Cracking The Shell
by H0n3yGlaz3
Summary: A German teenager finally gets a taste of the outside world after being locked away in a basement for half of her life. (My first fanfic. Bear with me.) Contains OC.
1. Introduction

Surrounded by darkness, the frightened girl sat with her knees up to her chest and her head in her knees. The coldness of the room caused her fingers, toes and lips to become numb and idle. The girl herself was pretty idle in all. She had not moved from that spot since she was last beaten. At this point in time, she probably was forgotten about by the man whom had brought her into this world.

The man who soon after losing his wife, had lost all care and respect for his family.

After just the funeral, he had took his anger out on his very own daughter, who was too young to understand why her mother was laying in a glossy, black box with flowers on it.

Following the beating and being sent to her room, the little 5 year-old, German girl began to blame her mommy disappearing on herself. She felt that her mother had ran away because she constantly called out her name and begged for cookies when her mother seemed as though she was trying to sleep. Although that wasn't the case, her father's fists didn't help her take the blame off her shoulders.

Things began to get worse and worse as she grew older.

She was forced to work around the house constantly and eventually, she was denied food if she were to make a single mistake. No matter how much she begged, how much weight she lost, or how visible her bones were through her skin, her father refused to feed her.

Once, having to have been caught eating sometime after midnight, her father cut her chest with a box cutter, letting fresh blood run free. Not only had he cut her but he had also cut the shirt that her grandmother had mailed to her for her 13th birthday.

The girl emerged from her thoughts as light flooded the room. She tilted her head up towards the blinding light, her neck popping in the process from having her head down for so long. Heavy footsteps approached down the stairs.

"I forgot you were even down here, _mein kind_."

Silence filled the room for a moment as the man in a black suit eyed the 17 year-old girl curled up protectively in the corner, wearing nothing but a yellow jersey with numbers "00" on it in white, black short shorts and blue thigh high socks that slipped off of her frail figure with every step she could muster.

"Come upstairs for a bit. I have something for you to do," he smirked, and made his way back up the stairs.

The black haired girl shakily got up onto her feet, ignoring her growling stomach and legs that threatened give out under her any day now. She climbed the stairs up to the kitchen, happy to finally be free from the freezing basement. The boney female scanned the room in awe. She had forgotten what it had looked like and how cozy it was when the smell of blood and salty tears weren't fumigating the room.

The brown haired man walked into the kitchen holding his black leather wallet.

"Do me a favor and run to the store for me. I'm starving and there's nothing here to eat," he whined, opening the wallet.

His daughter was absent mindedly tracing the ribbon tattoos on her arms and staring at the multiple credit cards in his wallet. She caught a quick glimpse of a picture he had in his wallet. It was she and her mother, except her very own face had been scratched out in black ink. This caused her to frown even more than she already was.

Green pieces of paper with faces of men whom she didn't know the names of were thrust into her face, along with a yellow sheet of notepad paper with a list of food the strong, frightening man had desired.

"Go pick up some food for me. _Jetzt_." the man stated bluntly.

Weakly taking the money and shopping list from his hand, the German teenager nodded in reply. She walked over to the back door of the kitchen and slipped on a pair of her yellow chuck taylors that she hadn't worn in god knows how long. Pulling on her semi-long black coat, she opened the door as a rush of cold February air hit her body. She stepped outside, nearly beginning to shiver violently.

"Oh and by the way, _liebe_. If I find out that you ate anything on the way back, I will personally force it out of you."

The girl gulped and closed the door behind her.


	2. Taken In

Standing in the store at the poultry section, the fragile little German eyed the choices in front of her. She took another peek at the shopping list and tried once more to decipher the terrible handwriting before her. Unable to figure out the poorly written word, she was lost. She was deeply afraid that if she chose the wrong one, she'd get hurt again. Paralyzed, the girl stood in her spot, listening to the silent music coming from the store's speakers.

**In or out,**  
**Up or down**  
**Never know,**  
**it's an illusion**

**Round and round,**  
**On and on**  
**Everyday spins my confusion**

**Not again, not again, not again, **  
**this dream I can't awake**

**What is real, what is real, what is real,**  
**it's getting hard for me to take**

**What I need, what I need, what I need,**  
**a little somethin' I rely**  
**And the white sugar gently hides me**

"C'mon, Mo! We should just get this one! It'll last longer!"

"You won't even drink all of it, man."

Flicking her head towards the sound of the voices in the dairy section across from her, she identified two people. One boy and one man. The man was a tall, skinny, yet muscular African-American. He wore a blue and white hoodie and a pair of white skinny jeans. His hood covered his eyes and his beige _Timberland_ boots were barely tied all the way up.

Next to him, was a little Korean boy in a black long sleeve shirt, a green puff vest, black skinny jeans, green suspenders and green chuck taylors. He also sported a green streak in his jet black hair. Holding up the large bottle of vitamin D milk, the boy smiled.

"I bet I will drink all of it! We've got so much cereal at home, who wouldn't finish it off, ya know what I mean?"

The African-American looked at him questionably.

"I don't know what you mean and probably never will, G. We're getting the smaller one. If we need more, I'll just come buy us some, a'ight?", the man spoke referring to the skinny bottle of vitamin D milk in his hands. "Now stop foolin' around. You're causin' a scene."

The little Korean boy gazed around and spotted the frail, German staring at them. She quickly turned her head away as the boy put the big bottle of milk back and hopped onto the back of the cart that the tall, milk chocolate man was pushing towards another aisle.

After enjoying the show, the girl returned to the situation at hand: choosing what meat her father had written down on the sheet of notepad paper. She randomly picked up a package of prime rib and headed towards the check out aisle with the rest of the delicious looking foods sitting helplessly in her basket she could barely carry.

"That'll be $43.58!", the cashier smiled, as the victim rummaged through her coat pockets, pulling out a $50 dollar bill and nervously handing it to the woman at the register.

Watching the food get put into a big brown bag was tough, as she hadn't eaten in what felt like ages. Receiving the change and the food, the blue-eyed female, made her way out of the store and into the busy parking lot. She refused to watch where she was going.

Entranced by the food, looking both ways was wiped away from her mind. Bread, prime rib, chips, tv-dinners, canned green beans and grapes stared back into her eyes, screaming 'Eat Me'.

"_Don't. Eat. Don't. Eat. Don't. Eat. Don't. Eat. Don't. Eat. __**Don't. Eat.**_", her brain urged.

"_Eat! The pain won't be as bad! You're used to it, right? So fill me up! Quickly!_", her stomach replied, growling loudly.

Dropping to her knees in the middle of the parking lot, the desperate German reached into the bag and pulled out the wrapped prime rib. Unknowingly drooling, she relieved the pink, succulent cow from the plastic wrap, dug her teeth into it and tore it apart, chewing like a dog. Immediately, tears began pouring down her pale, red cheeks, but she could care less. She was finally eating. Taking one bite after another and giving her stomach what it had so deadly desired, she failed to notice the car coming towards her.

The driver had their phone out, texting a friend of theirs and bobbing their head to the hip-hop music that played on the radio. He looked up to notice the victim sitting in the middle of the parking lot, devouring raw, bloody cows one after another.

"Yo, look out!"

Looking to her left and too startled to move, it was the end of the boney teenager. Suddenly, the same African-American from before jumped in front of the car, bringing the driver behind the wheel to their senses and they slammed on the brakes quickly, stopping the car in front of a man dressed in light blue and white.

The black and green dressed Korean quickly rushed in, picked up the bag of groceries and grabbed the girl's wrist, escorting her to the side. Moving from in front of the car, the chocolate man joined them, letting the car drive on.

"Good call out there, Momo!", the little boy smiled, fist-bumping his older friend.

"That was close, man. You a'ight, miss? You ain't hurt, are you?", the Senior questioned, looking at the face of the life he'd just saved.

Too stunned to reply, the girl stood there, gazing into space.

"C'mon, Glitch. We gotta find out where her crib is and get her home."

"_Nein!_", the girl finally shouted, realizing what she had just did. "Don't take me back to that mad man!"  
Mo looked at her surprised, then looked down at his little friend who had a sneaky look on his face.

"Little man, I already know what you're thinkin' about and it ain't gonna happen, yo."

"Aww, c'mon, Mo! It wouldn't hurt! She seems scared to go back home! Can we please take her in? Please, please, pwease?", Glitch begged, giving his self-proclaimed brother his best puppy eyes.

Mo thought this through. A terrified girl in his apartment? Where would she sleep? How would her parents react? She seemed as though she didn't wanna go back home and who was the 'mad man' she had screamed about?

"Pwease, Mo?"

The Senior sighed.

"Fine. Sure."


	3. Mo

"Houseparty."

"That's another bad name, little man."

"Alexis."

"Nope. That doesn't work."

"Fruity?"

"Now, that's just offensive."

After taking the girl home, cleaning her up and putting groceries away, Glitch had automatically wanted to know the German's name. Due to her being locked in a basement for half of her life, the girl couldn't even remember her name. Her father never used it to address her, nor did he ever care about her in general.

"We could name her Phresh. With a 'ph'," Mo suggested.

"Nah, that'd seem like somethin' Bodie'd name his love child," Glitch thought.

"I'm out of names." Mo gave up, looking down at the list of names he had written down on a sheet of notebook paper. Each one had a cross through it, signalizing that he had suggested it, but it didn't fit.

Glitch tapped his chin softly and opened his wrist-computer. He quickly began tapping the buttons on it, searching for cool names for his new friend. Meanwhile, the girl had looked up at Mo, who gave her a bright smile in return. She looked down right afterwards, causing Mo's smile to turn upside down.

"Don't worry. You're ain't goin' anywhere near that 'mad man' as long as we're here," Mo reassured her, tapping his pencil against the table in a catchy rhythm.

"I've got it! Yo, her name could be _Kuchen!_" The Korean cried out, proud of his discovery.

"_Kuchen_? What language is that and what does it mean?" Mo asked him, raising an eyebrow under his hood.

"It's German for 'cake'." The timid girl spoke out, twiddling her thumbs and slowly beginning to admire the nickname she was given.

"Yeah! So, what's up? What 'chu think about it?" Glitch smiled, closing his wrist computer and excitedly awaiting her response.

"... I like it." Kuchen smiled, the first smile she had given to the world in years.

"Nice work, G!", the older B-boy exclaimed, fist-bumping his younger half, who in turn, faced Kuchen and held his hand up.

"High five, Kuchen!", the smaller B-boy grinned.

Immediately, Kuchen sprung up from her seat and ran to the furthest corner in the kitchen, pulling her knees to her chest just as she sat before her father had came to get her to run to the store.

"Don't hurt me, please!", she cried out, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

The Hi-Def crew sat and stood confused, worried about their new companion.

* * *

_"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" a small German girl cried, running into her father's room._

_"What do you want?" the man muttered, annoyed that his daughter had woken him up from his nap._

_"Look at mein picture, Daddy!" the black-haired 8 year-old cried, holding up a drawing of her mother for her father to see. The drawing had been done in crayon and colored all the way through. The work of art was quite impressive for a child her age._

_ The muscular male opened an eye as he lay in bed and peeked at the drawing his daughter had thrust into his face. _

_ He hated her for even thinking of drawing her mother, the woman whom he had loathed for for ages now. It had only been 3 years since she had passed and his stupid daughter was already pushing memories of her back into his head._

_"Gut job, little one!" the man sarcastically exclaimed, holding up a hand to his daughter, indicating a 'high five'._

_ Of course, being as young and innocent as she was, the little girl extended her hand up to her father who laid on his bed. Nearly making contact with his hand, the child was dumbfounded when his hand had disappeared and make contact with her cheek. The force of the slap caused her to fall to the floor and tears began to well up in her blue-eyes._

_"You useless little shit!", he spat, snatching the paper from her and ripping it into several pieces. He then tossed them to the hardwood floor and spat on them._

_"D-daddy..."_

_"Aussteigen! Jetzt, dummkopf!", the brown haired male screamed, pointing towards the door to his room._

_ The little girl left in fear, holding the paper cut on her hand and wondering when her mother would be coming home to stop her daddy from hurting her._

* * *

Later that day, Kuchen had decided to explore the apartment, memorizing each and every nook and cranny in amazement. Although the German couldn't remember what her own home had looked like, she was happy to get to know this one.

She looked under the couches, in the cabinets and even inside the refrigerator, spotting the skinny bottle of milk that her two new friends had debated about earlier. Kuchen looked in the bathroom and even observed the "magical box with the moving picture and the magical buttons you could use from a distance" in the living room.

Kuchen's exploring wasn't done yet. She still had two other rooms to check out. The first one she decided to open had music coming from it.

Pushing the door open, she revealed the older dancer popping & locking to Big Boi's _Shutterbug_ in a large mirror on his wall. Kuchen was amazed by how he could move his body one part by another. She attempted it herself and obviously failed as it was a difficult process to learn. Mo turned around to her in surprise.

"Didn't see you there. What's up?"

The girl kept her mouth closed, ashamed and embarrassed that she had been caught watching him dance. It brought a new feeling into the pit of her stomach.

Awkwardness.

"You're still a lil' afraid to speak, I see. No prob. I'll bring you right outta that hard shell you got on, lil' ma. Don't even worry.", Mo grinned, pulling the girl into his room and closing the door behind her. The male danced over to his closet as Jay-Z's _I Know_ began to play from his stereo. He turned the music up a little higher and rummaged through his clothes.

Kuchen took this time to look at herself in his mirror. She was depressed by the sight of herself. Her messy ponytail, her stick-like arms, and her thighs that had barely any meat on them. Blue eyes stared into themselves as they looked upset that they were dull, dead and pale. Skinny fingers reached down to pull up the lingering thigh highs that fell back down anyway. If she had any food in her stomach to throw up, she would.

Mo appeared behind her holding a pink and blue stripped jacket, which he slung over her head. Kuchen turned around to him and allowed him to zip the jacket up. Following that, he pulled the hood on her head and gently tugged the two strings until her eyes were covered.

"M-Mr. Mo... I can't see...", Kuchen wailed, flapping the sleeves of Mo's jacket in fear.

"Chill, homie! Chill! You ain't even lemme finish!" Mo chuckled, adjusting the hood to where she could see perfectly, yet he couldn't see her eyes one bit. "Better?"

Kuchen looked into the mirror behind her and jumped in surprise as she looked at herself.

"B-but how...?" Kuchen wondered aloud.

"Shadows.", Mo said, standing next to her. "Since you're so shy, I bet it'll suit you just right, since you might not wanna be seen at some points."

Kuchen silently thanked him as he returned to his closet to look for more items to put on his new friend.


	4. Glitch

Kuchen lay on the couch in the living room, staring into the box with the moving picture. She had been set to bed a long time ago by both Mo and Glitch, who both told her that if she needed anything, come and wake them up. Kuchen, being the timid and worried girl that she was, didn't really want to wake them up, afraid that they'd hit her like her father had did.

Looking up at the digital clock on the coffee table beside her, Kuchen wondered when the next day was coming. She wanted to hang out more with her new friends. It was only 12am and Kuchen wasn't tired. She, for once in many years, had a large amount of energy in her system. As a woman in a blue dress on 'Family Feud' got the number one answer, Kuchen had to remind herself of what the question was.

A thump from outside the apartment front door caused her to sit up in shock and fear. She heard footsteps approaching and immediately broke into panic, fearing that her father had come to get her and take her back to the cold basement she once lived in. Kuchen jumped up from the couch and silently, but quickly tiptoed to the room she had never visited before. She thought of going to Mo's room, but curiosity tugged her by the ear.

Carefully opening the door, the fragile German noticed little Glitch sleeping in his bed with a smile on his face, his curtains open to reveal the snow falling outside. Kuchen softly closed the door to his room and snuck around to the other side of the bed, being careful not to trip over his shoes that were sitting all over his floor.

She crawled into his bed next to him, pulling the covers over her skinny body and getting comfortable, trying not to wake him up.

"Kuchen?"

Perking up at the sound of his voice, the girl looked over at the awake Korean boy who was rubbing his eye sleepily.

"What cha doin' in here, girl?" Glitch asked her, questioning the light shift of the bed.

Kuchen kept quiet.

"Still ain't talkin' much, huh? That's cool." the small B-boy sleepily grinned.

"I got scared... and I wanted to feel safe somewhere... I'm sorry, I'll leave." Kuchen frowned, attempting to get up from the bed.

"Hey, hey. You ain't gotta leave. You can stay right here." Glitch reassured her, patting the spot next to him in bed.

Kuchen laid back down in the bed and got comfortable, turning on her side to face Glitch who handed her a pair of earphones and his iPod. She looked at the device questionably, wondering what it was and how it worked.

"I'm going back to sleep, but you can listen to my music if you want. You know how to work it right?" Glitch asked her.

Kuchen shook her head 'yes', lying and taking the electronic device from him. Glitch turned over and went back to sleep as Kuchen put the earphones in her ears then, randomly and curiously clicked buttons on the iPod until she heard music flow into her ears, soothing her mind, body and soul.

Sliding through the 'playlists' section, Kuchen came across a playlist labeled 'Dubstep'. What in the world was a dubstep? And how did it work? What did it mean? Was it important? Could you touch it? Could you feel it? Could you smell it? What was dubstep? The only way to figure out was to click it.

And she did.

Blue eyes widened in shock while SKRILLEX'S _Breakn' A Sweat_ boomed into her tiny ears. The beat, the bass, the catchy as hell lyrics stuck to her like glue. Never before had she had heard something so mind-blowing and entertaining.

She laid in Glitch's bed, enjoying the playlist of dubstep. Yes, dubstep was definitely something you could feel and Kuchen could feel the bass echoing through her body. Soon, sleep caught up to her and she feel into it's soft arms.

* * *

Bright light shined into the room, causing the victim to open her eyes and roll over to realize that her little Korean friend had disappeared from his spot next to her. Dubstep still bumping into her ears, Kuchen removed the earphones, only to hear more music coming from the living room of the apartment.

"5, 6... 5, 6, 7, 8!", following the shuffling of feet against the tiled floor. Curiosity and hunger caused Kuchen to get up, leaving the iPod on the bed.

Walking out of Glitch's room and into the living room, the blue-eyed teen watched the Hi-Def crew practice to upbeat music. Kuchen had never knew that the human body could move the way their's did. They were flexible, quick and synchronized. Then, Glitch popped a head spin, taking Kuchen's breath away. She never knew such a thing existed. She was actually afraid that Glitch had hurt himself doing so.

"Oh my...", the ribbon tattooed female murmured, putting a hand on her face.

The song ended and so did practice with a pose.

"That. Was. Flawless! Way to do work, Little Man!", Mo exclaimed, putting his arm on the shoulder of his younger companion.

"Practice makes perfect, ya know what I'm sayin'?", Glitch smiled, accepting his older friend's praise.

"A'ight! I'll be back in a bit and don't let her go hungry", the African-American reminded him, pointing to Kuchen on the other side of the room. "I can trust you, right?"

"Of course, bro!" And with that, Mo left the apartment, Glitch locking the door behind him.

Kuchen had wondered where Mo was going but felt that it'd be rude to ask.

"Yo! You a'ight?"

Kuchen looked down at her friend who held a 8-pack box of blueberry muffins and a two liter bottle of orange juice. She nodded in response to his question and began to drool, looking at the sweet muffins and pulpy orange juice in his hands.

"I know you're hungry so, go in!", the Korean exclaimed.

Immediately, the starving German took the box of muffins and orange juice from him and ran into a corner, where she ripped the box to pieces, watching the plastic wrapped muffins fall into her lap and onto the floor. She picked one up, ripped the plastic off with what little strength she had and ate the muffin whole, paper and all.

"Whoa... you're more hungry than I thought," Glitch said, watching her chug down nearly half of the bottle of orange juice. He stepped over to her and sat on the floor.

Picking up a wrapped muffin, the B-boy pulled the plastic off easily.

"Before you shove another down your throat, watch me, a'ight, Ku?"

The hungry girl gave him her complete attention. The raven-haired boy pulled off the paper on the bottom of the muffin and gave it to her. She looked at him confused.

"It tastes better this way, I swear."

After eating the muffin without the papery taste, Kuchen realized that he was indeed right and began to eat her muffins just the way he had showed her, without the paper. Glitch got up from his spot on the floor and let her eat, heading to the bathroom to handle his messy hair.

* * *

After her feast, Kuchen peeked into the bathroom to watch Glitch mess with his hair. She had the urge to touch it but held herself back, nearly biting her own skinny hand to resist it.

"You would look awesome with blue hair, yo...", the B-boy muttered to himself, looking at the 17 year-old through the mirror. He had the same sneaky look on his face that he had when he wanted to take her in.

"_B-blau...?_", Kuchen whimpered in German.

Before she could say anything, she was tugged into the bathroom without a single word.

* * *

Mo had walked back into his apartment, keys in hand. He greeted his two roommates who were sitting on the couch of the living room, playing a card game.

"'Sup? Whoa...", the milk chocolate dancer gawked, staring at Kuchen's now blue bangs.

"You dig?! Doesn't she look fresh?!", the green-streaked boy shouted, proud of his work.

The poor German girl looked at him, a somewhat sad expression on her face.

"_Blau._", she whimpered, pointing to her hair.

"G, I don't think she likes it." Mo thought, fixing the pink cap on his head.

"Nonsense. She's just upset that she's losin' at 'Kings in the Corner'. I tried to go easy on 'er, but she got too cocky when I did.", Glitch smugly smirked, placing another king in a corner of the deck of cards, triggering Kuchen to mentally slapped herself for not noticing it before.

Mo couldn't help but smile, realizing that Kuchen's shell had cracked a bit. Progress.


	5. Bodie

**Author's note: **I think that this is probably the best chapter out of all of them so far. But, it all depends on what you guys think. Also, my German sucks, I know. I'm still learning. Enjoy.

* * *

Winter had passed and spring and summer were making their way into the world. This meant shorts, bikinis, tank tops, and especially, the beach. Which meant that surfers and beach goers alike were gonna be gathered at High Tide Beach. Even our crew, Hi-Def and their new friend, Kuchen, whom they saved outside a grocery store and have been watching after ever since.

Glitch and Mo had ran off elsewhere, leaving Kuchen to wander the beach alone. The idea in all made her nervous as she thought that her father could appear out of nowhere and steal her away. She felt unsafe and insecure. Refusing to wear a swim suit of any sort, Kuchen came to the beach in a green short sleeve shirt and a pair of Glitch's shorts.

Stepping over to the large ocean, she stood in the sand and watched as the tide rinsed her boney feet.

The large mass of water in front of her made her the most nervous of anything. It had brought back memories... terrible memories.

* * *

_Sitting alone in her room, holding a stitched up teddy bear, the small German child was in deep thought about her mother. She wondered just where she was and what she was doing, how she was or where she was going. Most importantly, when she was coming back._

_ The beatings with her father had gotten more brutal than usual. He seemed as if he were hitting her harder than he did when she was younger. Hunger consumed her, bringing her into an even deeper depression._

_"Sweetheart, come take your bath," she heard her father knock on the door._

_ Obeying his wishes, she sat her teddy bear down on her bed and made her way towards the bathroom where her father had waited next to a tub full of water._

_"Before you get in, liebling, can you look in there and check for a bar of soap?" her father asked, pointing towards the tub._

_ Little Kuchen leaned in, hovering herself over the large bowl of water, squinting her eyes attempting to see a bar of soap that wasn't there. While her guard was down, the brown-haired man grabbed her by her hair and forced her head down into the water. Kuchen attempted to breathe, only to get a mouth full of warm water. She kicked and squirmed, but it was useless against the man's brute strength._

_ As she was pulled back up to the surface, she coughed achingly, trying to force up the water that she had swallowed._

_"Such a shame you miss your mommy," the German male whispered, dunking his daughter's head back into the bath._

_ Kuchen began to cry, her lungs burning and her nostrils begging for anything but more water up them. Unable to breathe, the German child began to panic, wanting to cry out for her mother if she had the oxygen. She emerged once again and was thrown on the hard tiles of the bathroom floor, coughing and gasping for air._

_"If I were you, I would get out of my sight."_

_ Her breath began to regulate. She panted, still in shock by what had happened. Her father stood to his feet and pulled out his box cutter from his pocket._

_"Laufen! Verdammt laufen!", he yelled, making the girl scramble to her feet and run back to her room, slipping in fear every now and then._

* * *

"Heads up!"

Kuchen stopped thinking as she heard the unfamiliar phrase. She looked up at the sea and, in a flash, she was in and underneath it within seconds.

She opened her eyes and automatically became paralyzed and watched as the salty water slowly turned more and more blue and the beautiful clear sky began to fade away from sight. She could've sworn that she saw her father's intimidating face somewhere in the water, smiling at her menacingly. A smile so spine-chilling, she felt that if she dared move a finger, she'd be whisked away from the outside world by his breath-taking grasp of steel.

"Oh my god! Somebody's drowning!"

"Some skinny, pale girl just fell in the water!"

"She's gonna die! Someone help!"

"I can't see her! Someone save her!"

A blond, toned lifeguard looked towards the commotion from his high chair and snapped into action, hearing of some skinny, boney, pale girl getting hit in the head by a ball and falling head first into the water. He took of his sunglasses and blew the whistle around his neck. The blond practically jumped down from his eagle's view and ran into the water to retrieve the frail German.

Kuchen's breath slowly began to fade away from her lungs and become replaced by water. She looked up at the sky one last time and saw a milky, white figure coming towards her, arms expanded as if it were going to hug her.

She had come to the conclusion that it was a male, with blond hair. He was shirtless and wore red shorts with the word "LIFEGUARD" written on the side in bold, white letters. The whistle around his neck nearly came off as he swam down and grabbed the fainting German, hoisting her over his shoulder and making his way back towards the surface.

The blond hero came up to the surface of the water to a group of people waiting for his return with the victim. They began to cheer excitedly as the lifeguard regulated his breathing, swimming towards shore. Once there, he laid Kuchen down on her back and checked her for any signs of breathing. She was alive, but her lungs had very little water lingering in them.

"Kuchen!", a little Korean B-boy exclaimed, running over to the scene. "Aww, man! Mo told me to be careful!"

The blue-eyed girl sat up and coughed up water brutally. She looked around at the people staring down at her, then looked to her right to see her blond hero, giving her a relieved smile. Kuchen, on the other hand, began to get frightened by all of the sudden attention.

"M-Mo... Mo! Momo!" she cried out, whimpering loudly. "Glitch..."

Grabbing a seat next to her, Glitch made his presence known as Mo approached the scene.

"She's okay. 'Preciate the savin' Bodie!" Mo obliged, addressing the lifeguard by his real name as the crowd dismissed themselves.

"It's my job!" Bodie smirked. "You know her?"

"It's a long story, but yeah, we do."

"She lives with us!", Glitch exclaimed, fixing the wet girl's blue bangs who had her arms wrapped around his neck for dear life.

Bodie held out a hand to her, attempting to introduce himself.

"Hey there. My name's Bodie. And you are?"

"She probably won't tell you, so her name's Kuchen, man." the milk-chocolate man stated, spinning a basketball on his index finger with ease.

"Cool! That's German, right?" the lifeguard asked, interested.

"_Ja_... for 'cake'..." Kuchen muttered, eying her savior.

"Yo, Mo!"

"Glitch, you guys still playin'?!"

"Give us a sec!", the junior yelled, heading back to the basketball court with his senior, leaving the blue-haired teenager all alone with the blond lifeguard.

Kuchen thought that for sure, he was going to hurt her. Maybe even kill her. That kind, warming smile he held on his face was probably just a mask for an insane killer. Or her father.

"You like smoothies?" Bodie questioned her.

"...what's a... smoothie?"

"You don't know what a smoothie is?"

Silence followed his question. He took this as a chance to help her up off the sand and towards a shack near the beach side. Bodie checked the high chair to make sure that another lifeguard was on duty before he had ordered.

"Lemme get... one raspberry smoothie, one mango smoothie and... a strawberry muffin.", the blue-eyed lifeguard ordered, running a hand through his wet locks.

He looked over to his left to notice that his skinny little friend had disappeared. His eyebrows raised in alarm and he scanned the beach, hoping that she hadn't fell into the water again.

He spotted her, playing with a lone crab that was making it's way across the beach. The crab snapped at the German and she snapped back at it with her thumb and index finger. Bodie began to wonder just what the Hi-Def crew were teaching her back at their apartment. Maybe Glitch's weirdness had rubbed off on her.

Kuchen sat back down at the shack with Bodie who had just received the order he'd made, not too long ago. He slid the raspberry smoothie and strawberry muffin over to the German, who immediately ate the muffin and began consuming the awkward drink that she knew nothing about.

"So, you're from Germany?" Bodie wondered, watching her intently.

"_Ja_...", Kuchen replied, then yelped, holding the sides of her head.

"Whoa, now! Don't give yourself a brain-freeze!"

* * *

After telling Bodie about how dark and cold the basement of her home was, what her father was like and how Glitch and Mo found her in the parking lot, Kuchen finished up her smoothie, nominating raspberry as her new favorite flavor and smoothies as the best drink ever.

Bodie nodded throughout the entire story, somewhat becoming disgusted with her father's actions and how he blamed his own daughter for her mother's death.

"He sounds like a major douche," the lifeguard growled, "but don't worry. We'll be here to protect you, no matter what."

Kuchen gave him another smile as he looked over her body. She was still skinny, but not as skinny as she was when she met the Hi-Def crew back in February. Her arms were still boney and her thighs had gained a little more meat on them. Unable to fit her thigh-highs still, she was overall proud of her progress.

"You still look like a pale stick. But I know just the person who can help you," Bodie reassured, cracking the German's shell a little more.


	6. Emilia

**Author's Note: **It's looking pretty good so far. Here's another chapter. Here, we learn about just how skinny Kuchen really is. Enjoy!

* * *

"Emilia, you in here?"

Bodie had escorted Kuchen to his home, not foo far from the beach, where he had lived with Emilia, the other half of the Riptide Crew. He was counting on her to give Kuchen some tips and advice on how to eat healthy and gain her strength back one step at a time.

"Right here!", the brunette shouted back, throwing a few more punches into the black punching bag suspended from the ceiling. Sweat dripped down her face and some onto the floor.

Kuchen hid behind Bodie, afraid of the vicious woman before her. What if she had hit Kuchen herself? It'd hurt. Surely.

"What's u-... hey, who's the girl behind you, Bo?" Emilia examined, ceasing her attack on the poor punching bag. If punching bags had the ability to cry, that one definitely would.

"This is Kuchen. She got hit upside the head today by a basketball and nearly drowned. Lucky for her, I was on duty. She's one of Hi-Def's friends." the lifeguard told, attempting to get the German to stop using him as a human shield.

"Yeah, lucky for her." Emilia muttered, tilting her head a little to the left in an attempt to spot the girl.

"You can come out, you know..." Bodie soothed, rubbing Kuchen's hand that was placed on his shoulder to comfort her.

"_Nein..._"

"So she's German? Interesting. How'd they come across her?" Emilia questioned, placing a red towel around her neck.

"They found her in front of a grocery store, chowing down on raw meat back in February. Saved her life from some idiot behind the wheel who was too busy texting." the blond explained. "Welp, I've gotta head back to the beach. You two have fun."

And with that, Bodie left, forcing little Kuchen to stay with his friend.

"Relax, German friend. I won't hurt you like I do this punching bag. I promise." Emilia turned around to a desk and began going through a tall stack of health books. They were filled with exercises for beginners, an eating chart, several choices for diet pills (which Emilia ripped out, knowing that her new friend didn't need), and fun activities to get the body moving.

"I'm gonna give you this book so you can get back into shape and whatnot. It'll be difficult for the first few months but you'll get into it. Don't stuff your face with too much junk food though, alright?"

Mere silence.

"Alright? You still there?" Emilia spoke, turning around to see the German girl sitting near the treadmill with Emilia's sketchbook in her hand.

"H-hey, put that down!" the fit woman whined, walking over to Kuchen and snatching the sketchbook from her hands, leaving her with an upset expression on her face. "What were you doing? Did you even hear a word I said?"

Kuchen hid her face in her hands, looking as though she was going to burst into tears any second now. Emilia looked at the page of the sketch book and saw the face of a beautiful woman, giving a big smile. She had somewhat curly, ebony hair and the face of a complete angel.

"Hey... that's pretty... good. In fact, that's amazing! Who is this? Is it someone you know?"

"It's... my mother. At least, what I remember of her...", the lanky German whimpered.

Emilia frowned, remembering her own mother who she hadn't talked to in quite sometime. The magazine she'd held in her hand had disappeared and the raven-haired teenager began to take her leave.

"Kuchen, wait! Real quick, do you need any 'items'?" Emilia awkwardly asked.

Kuchen looked back at her, puzzled.

"You know,... 'lady items'?"

"N-no..." And she took off to go find her friends back at the beach.

Hoisting herself onto a her desk, the brunette thought over why she didn't need anything from her. Was it that the Hi-Def crew had already bought some for her? Nah, that couldn't be it. She couldn't imagine Glitch and Mo shopping for stuff that they knew nothing about. Especially, female items. Birth control pills? Impossible. Then, it hit Emilia just as hard as the basketball hit Kuchen.

That girl was far too skinny to even _think_ of having a menstrual cycle.


	7. Angel

**Author's Note: **At first, I got a fat dose of writer's block. I turned on some music and BAM! I had so much fun writing this chapter. Omg. I guess that "I Got A Boy" by Girls' Generation just boosts my ability to add detail to my writing. Anyway, another day, another chapter. Thanks for your positive feedback and whatnot. I really appreciate it. On to the Angel Chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

"You nailed it! Almost! It's one step you need to work on."

On a regular, boring Saturday night, Mo took this time to teach Kuchen some new moves that not even Glitch knew. Although Kuchen thought that he was moving ahead and teaching her moves that were a little too difficult for a beginner, Mo thought she had the potential to learn them.

"Don't be afraid to get down on the floor, lil' ma. Ain't nothin' gonna happen. If you fall, I'm pickin' you up, a'ight?", Mo told her, patting her shoulders.

"And if Mo falls tryin' to get you up, I'm helpin' both of ya'll!", Glitch exclaimed, sitting on the couch watching them dance, silently memorizing the dance moves.

"A'ight, Glitch. Hit it one more time."

"Let's get it!" the younger b-boy pumped up, flicking on "Boomy" to Lady Gaga's _Applause_.

Just as soon as the dancing started, Mo's phone began to ring, causing Glitch to cut off the boombox.

"Sup?", the African-American muttered breathlessly into the phone, biting a fingernail.

"WHERE. ARE. YOU?!"

Mo held the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker.

"At home. Why?"

"You're missing my party! Everyone's wondering where you are!"

"Nobody told us, Aubs!"

"Get. Over. Here. NOW!" The call immediately ended.

Mo put his cell phone into his back pocket and turned around to find Kuchen curled up in a corner, afraid of the angry female voice that boomed through the speaker.

"Was that Aubrey?" Glitch asked, eyes wide with terror.

"Yep. We've been invited to a party, lil' man."

* * *

In about half an hour or less, the Hi-Def crew made their way to a huge yacht, docked on the edge of the High Tide Beach. Approaching the opening, they found themselves stopped by two large security guards.

"Names and/or Crew?" they asked in unison.

"Hi-Def."

"Hmm..." one of them murmured, looking over his checklist.

"Go in." the two men in the black suits granted them entrance. Kuchen made sure to fall in between Mo and Glitch in order to avoid being rejected by the terrifyingly, buff men.

Upon boarding the yacht, blue-eyes blinked in realization. The smell of tropical fruit was in the air and that only meant one thing:

Smoothies.

Slipping from the safety of her two roommates, Kuchen followed the smell with her miniscule nose. She turned corners and nearly fell down a flight of stairs until she ran herself into a bar. She grabbed a seat and eyed the alcoholic drinks on the wall. She wanted to try all of them, oblivious to the effects that the alcohol had.

Glancing to her left, Kuchen observed the tan-skinned man sitting next to her in a white visor with his head down. She oogled at the diamond studs in his ears, watching them glisten in the bright lights. Holding out a pale hand, she reached for them, unable to resist their shiny beauty.

As soon the German's hand got close to his ear, the male grabbed her hand in a gentle grip. Kuchen jumped, regretting her escape from the two boys who protected her with their lives. Fear rode her spine like a wave as the Latino lifted his head and looked into her sapphire eyes with his hazels. Bracing for impact and shutting her eyes as tightly as possible, Kuchen said her prayers, expecting him to whip his hand across her face.

Opening her eyes in surprise, Kuchen realized that he was actually kissing her hand. A new feeling rushed into her stomach. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was unsettling. So unsettling, she shifted slightly in her seat. Her stomach turned in fear and her throat burned.

Love? Confusion? Or maybe a hint of disgust?

"_Hola._" the Latino finally greeted her, a smirk sneaking it's way onto his face.

"_H-hallo..._"

Kuchen put her head down and the entire world began to spin in circles. Everything was going a mile a minute. Even the music blasting all over the yacht began to increase in speed. Azure eyes began to shift from left-to-right rapidly. Her heart literally punched at her chest, threatening to make it's way out and onto the lap of the man she'd only just met.

A hand reached it's way under her chin and her head was lifted back up into reality. The world stopped spinning, her stomach stopped twisting and turning, music was brought back to it's normal rate, her heart relaxed and her throat had cooled.

"Are you alright, _Señorita_? You look a little sick."

"I-I'm fine, _d-danke..._", Kuchen replied, looking at her hand to spot her fingers entangled with his. She pulled away and stuffed her hands into her lap as the Latino chuckled at her reaction.

"_Muy linda._ Tell me your name."

"K-Kuchen."

"Kuchen... I believe I've heard of you from _Señor_ Bodie. I'm Angel." the flirtatious male told her.

Kuchen perked up, surprised that he had knew Bodie, her blond friend who had saved her life that day at the beach. A bartender had waltzed over and asked if she could get them anything.

"I'll have a Coco Rico." Angel ordered, then looked at the German stranger.

"C-can I have a smoothie? A raspberry one? P-please?" Kuchen ordered and yelped awkwardly as the Latino had snaked his hand onto her lap and back into hers.

"Um... Sure, love." the bartender replied, walking away to retrieve their beverages.

The azure haired teenager looked up at Angel, who winked back at her, rubbing her backhand with his thumb. Feeling sick again, Kuchen held her stomach with her free hand.

"Bodie's told me all about you," Angel smirked, admiring how unfamiliar she was with this form of physical contact. "You speak German, _si?_"

"Y-y-yeah... it was my first language but... I have no idea what you've been saying since I've met you." Kuchen admitted.

"Well then, let me _educar_ you in the ways of Spanish." the flirty Latino spoke, being sure to sensually roll the 'r' at the end of _'educar'_.

The drinks arrived and the teaching began. After a little more or less than 15 minutes, Kuchen had learned so much that she was sure that she knew the language forwards and backwards.

"Erm... _Te amo_, Angel?"

"_Muy bien._" Angel shook his head, congratulating her.

Kuchen beamed with delight and took a look around at the dancing and talking people aboard the yacht. The warm breath against her cheek forced her to spin back to Angel whom she was face-to-face with. Leaning back uncomfortably, the teenager watched as her tan-skinned acquaintance placed a hand onto her stool between her legs, and leaned in closer to her face.

"Don't be afraid, _chica._"

"W-what are you doing?"

"Yeah, what ARE you doing, Angel?"

The two snapped their heads up to a curly red-head woman, wearing black designer shorts, a light blue blouse and red suspenders. She had her hands on her hips and a not-so-happy look on her face.

"_Hola, Señorita_ Aubrey. _Como estas?_" Angel smiled at her, backing away from the uncomfortable German.

"_How are you_, my fabulous butt. Nice try, Angel. I'm taking the new girl. Find something better to do with your time. Like, I dunno, restocking the snack table?" The red-head smartly told him, tugging Kuchen away by the wrist.


	8. Miss Aubrey

**Author's Note: **I think I know how make-up works... I think.

* * *

Kuchen was lugged into Aubrey's bedroom aboard the yacht. She was sat down in front of a fancy, white dresser. The dresser had little lights around the mirror and 'Miss Aubrey' written across the top in pink. Kuchen looked down and spotted baskets of make-up all over the dresser. One basket was full of nail-polish, another full of eyeliner and a couple filled with brushes and face pads.

"Aren't you Hi-Def's new friend that everyone's been blabbing about?", Miss Aubrey asked, leaning over the girl's shoulder.

"Y-yeah... I guess..."

"I'm Miss Aubrey, the most fashionable, beautiful and talented girl you will **EVER** meet. You should feel lucky, new girl. You're in the presence of a Queen." the red-head gloated, taking down the German female's ponytail and running her fingers through the silky black hair.

"H-hey... don't..."

"Sit back and relax,- what's your name anyway?"

"Ooo! _Me llamo_ Kuchen!", blue-eyes lit up, excited to finally use one of the few Spanish phrases that Angel had taught her.

"That has that tan-skinned go-getter all over it.", Miss Aubrey stated, going through one of the baskets on the dresser and picking out a stick of black eyeliner.

Grabbing the chin of the younger female gently, but firmly, the older woman opened the pen and told her to 'hold still' as she got closer to her eyes. Kuchen turned her head away in fear, whimpering under her breath.

"Hold still! I'm trying to make you like nice here! Not to mention it's for free."

"Glitch told me to never let people get in my grill..." Kuchen whispered, shutting her eyes tightly.

The red-head's eyes widened at the girl's sudden use of slang. Just what had those boys been teaching her? Already annoyed with the German's defiance, Aubrey picked up the lightweight and threw her onto the bed along with a few baskets of make-up, wrestling her down and forcing make-up onto her face.

"You're gonna like what you see when I'm done, new girl. Let the Queen do her work on the peasant."

* * *

After nearly 20 minutes of squirming, whining and forcing a curling iron into her hair, Miss Aubrey allowed Kuchen to sit up and look at herself in the mirror. Not only was she astonished but she felt another new feeling rush into her stomach- no, her entire body.

Beauty.

Not once in her life had she'd been ever called gorgeous, beautiful or even cute by someone she'd cared about. Now, she didn't need words. She could see it with her very own eyes. The black eyeliner flickering up near the edge of her eyes, her lightly applied mascara, the soft covering of foundation on her cheeks and to top it off, the small tinkles of blush near her cheek bones. She had something else above her eyes on her eyelids, but she couldn't pick it out.

"You're speechless, I know. Now, let's go. We're gonna show you off to the world. AFTER we pick out your dress."

After choosing a short sleeved blue and white polka dot dress that came up above her knees, she was ready to be seen.

While being brought around to everywhere the party was happening, Kuchen received eyes of many, making her nervous and nearly want to throw up. At one point, she did, causing her red-headed friend to groan in disgust. She finally made her way to the dance floor where she had spotted a couple of friends dancing with each other.

A sudden tap on her shoulder made her turn around. She found her favorite African-American behind her, holding a smoothie, with his Korean b-boy at his side.

"Mr. Mo! Glitch!", Kuchen cried out, hugging them both quickly, then taking the strawberry smoothie from Mo's hand, slurping it down.

"Ya boy was gonna drink that, but a'ight."

"Make-up? Lookin' dope right now.", Glitch observed, staring at her face.

"I think she looks fly. Don't you, G?" Mo smiled, pinching Kuchen's cheek.

"Hands off, Mo! You're gonna ruin her foundation!" Miss Aubrey chimed in, waving Mo's hand away. "I worked far too hard for you boys to be ruining it. Look, but don't touch."

As the snobby woman scolded the boys about having Kuchen dress up in their clothes with absolutely no sense of fashion, the fragile German looked around at the night sky and the people on the dance floor.

Little did she know, a small chunk of her shell had made it's way off of her back.


	9. Taye & Lil' T

**Author's Note: **Guess who can't remember how a credit card works~? This writer! Anywho, this chapter is another one of my favorites. I kind of had a hard time writing it. It was difficult to put Taye and Lil' T's personality into words. Tell me what you think. Review and enjoy!

* * *

Early in the morning, after the amazing party on Aubrey's yacht, the Hi-Def crew decided to have a chill day. They wanted to do nothing more but relax and avoid the blistering, July heat. Mo had set up fans around the apartment and decided to spend his day on the couch in nothing but a hat, a tank top and a pair of shorts.

Glitch emerged from his room in his green and black pajamas and made his way towards the kitchen, where their German roommate consumed a bowl of cocoa puffs, two muffins and a glass of orange juice.

"Mo, where's the bacon?", Glitch called from the kitchen.

"It's on the second shelf!" Mo replied, going through his phone.

"No it ain't!", the emerald-eyed Korean retorted.

Confused, Mo got up from his comfortable spot on the couch and walked into the kitchen, crouching down near the refrigerator. He rummaged through the contents of it and found not a single slither of bacon.

"How could the bacon be gone?"

"O-oh... is that what that meat was...?", Kuchen whispered from the table. "I-I ate it..."

"That fast? Did you even cook it?", the milk chocolate man asked her.

"Yeah... in the microwave." Kuchen awkwardly smiled, hiding her face in her tiny hands.

Before Glitch could even think about getting upset, there was a rhythmic knock on the door. Mo got up from his position near the kitchen floor and left to open the door. Glitch took this time to find something else to eat, rubbing his stomach hungrily. Mo opened the apartment door to none other than the Flash4ward Crew.

"What up?"

"Better question: What are ya'll doin' here?", the Korean asked, popping up near the doorway.

"Word on the street is: Ya''ll gots a new lady friend.", a young chocolate girl smirked, waltzing into the cool apartment.

"Yeah, what of her?", Mo wondered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Lil' T and I, We're gonna take her shoppin'! Livin' here with ya'll two, her get up's gotta be atrocious." the taller African-American girl insulted, flipping her mohawk.

"Real funny, Taye.", Glitch groaned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It is funny. Just like your dance moves, lil' Korean!" Lil' T shot out, rolling her neck.

"If I were you, I'd back up the trash or Imma take it out!" the Junior replied, having Mo put a hand on his chest to calm him down.

"Cool the drama. Ya'll ain't come here to dance battle, ya'll came here to meet our lil' friend, right?" Mo asked them, making sure nothing broke out.

"Yeah, you're right. So, where is she?" Taye looked around.

Mo lead them to the kitchen where the blue-haired German sat, stuffing down another bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Flash4ward stalked over to her and began to make observations.

"She's skinny! Like a stick!"

"Blue hair? Glitch's idea."

"German? Is she really? She don't look it."

"Her eyes are about the same color as her hair!"

"Does she speak English?"

Each statement made Kuchen sink down into her seat. The two girls hung over her, making the German nervous. She put her face down lower and lower towards the table until eventually, her nose was in her cereal.

"M-Mo... Glitch...", Kuchen whined from the bowl.

Mo ushered the nosy girls over and away from his friend, in the living room.

"Chill out. You're makin' my girl uneasy," he told them, as Kuchen sat back up and nervously sipped her orange juice full of pulp.

"Our bad! So how do we get her to talk?" Taye questioned, rubbing her neck.

"Whatever you do, don't get up in her grill. She fo' real won't talk then. You gotta make sure you give her that personal space. Remember, you know that she was..." Mo paused and did a double take to make sure that Kuchen wasn't looking at them then, mouthed the word _'abused'_.

Taye and her little sister gave a small gasp in horror as the German looked over towards them from the kitchen. Mo looked back at her and gave her a reassuring smile and wave. She happily waved back then, got up to go further into the kitchen.

"That's sick." Lil' T gagged, rolling her eyes.

"Don't remind me. Just take a chill pill and-"

"Mo! Kuchen's stealin' cereal again!" Glitch yelled from the kitchen.

The older male fixed his hat and made his way into the kitchen to find Kuchen holding her stomach and Glitch attempting to reach under her shirt. "Hands up."

As Glitch put up both hands, Kuchen only put up one. Mo glared daggers into her from under his hat.

"Both of 'em."

Putting up the other hand, a box of Cocoa Puffs fell from under Kuchen's shirt and onto the floor. She gave a sad whimper as Mo sauntered over and picked up the box.

"Look, I know you like cereal because of the sugar. Which would explain why you like smoothies."

"Smoothies..." the German smiled, licking her lips.

"Yeah, I know. But you can't steal. Stealin' is a no-no." Mo scolded, putting up the box of sugary delights into a cabinet as Kuchen gave a gasp of fear. "Yeah. And no-no's lead to...?"

"Trouble...", she dramatically answered, thinking about the men with the badges and the billy clubs that Glitch had told her about.

"Right. So no more stealin' or no more cereal.", the Senior threatened.

"_Ja!_" the blue-eyed female agreed, as Glitch stood on his tip-toes to give her a pat on the head.

Taye and Lil' T had watched the whole thing, trying to imagine what exactly these boys had been teaching her in this apartment.

"Uh... how old is she?", Taye questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"_Siebzehn!_" Kuchen beamed.

"Say wha?"

"That's German for 'six-teen'." Mo told her, looking at Kuchen who shook her head 'no' at him. "Eight-teen? Uh... seven-teen. Yeah, seventeen!"

"He's getting good!", the German giggled, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Right... anyway, we gotta go! The mall don't wait for everybody!" the smaller girl said, heading towards the door.

"But... I don't wanna leave..." the German whimpered.

"Why not?" Taye asked her, watching her expression change slowly.

"I don't... wanna go anywhere... without my brothers..."

Silence occupied the room as Flash4ward made a look of confusion and Hi-Def was left surprised at what Kuchen had referred to them as.

"I don't feel safe..."

* * *

Kuchen's refusal to leave without her 'brothers' resulted in them coming along for the ride. Arriving at the mall was a truly baffling experience for her. She asked so many questions and was determined to go in before the car was even parked.

Hopping out and running into the ginormous building, Kuchen was immediately stricken with curiosity.

"Time to teach you the ways of the shoppin' mall, lil' mami." Lil' T snapped.

"First, you gotta learn the good stores and the bad stores. Some are terrible and others are to DIE for." Taye told her, pulling out her credit card. "I made sure that I stuffed this little sucker with money for just such an occasion."

"A card?"

"You may not know how it works now, but it'll dawn on you, girl. Now, let's ditch these boys and go enjoy ourselves." the mohawked woman smirked, leaving Mo and Glitch to wander the mall.

Kuchen thought that for sure she was gonna die. Of utter embarrassment. Taye and Lil' T were destined to find her size in everything. Any small shirts that she found cute, they were bought for her. Little accessories and purses, they were rung up.

Finding pants proved to be difficult.

Knowing that their friend was soon going to thicken out, they couldn't decided if they should've got her current size, 0, or boost her up to a 2. Being lugged into dressing room after dressing room was absolutely exhausting. Dresses were thrust over her head and fixed onto her body within seconds. Although she felt the feeling of beauty rush into her again, Kuchen couldn't help but feel that something was missing.

Wobbling about the mall, the skinny German found herself in a male's store. She thought about how in just a few months, it would be her brothers' birthdays. She wanted to show them how grateful she really was in gifts, instead of in hugs, kisses, smiles and tickles (upon Glitch that is, who was extremely ticklish).

Kuchen begged Taye into buying her all of things she wanted for them then stuffed it all into the bottom of her bag.

Soon after, the taller chocolate female got a call from Glitch who wanted Flash4ward to meet them elsewhere in the mall. As Kuchen wasn't allowed to come for some strange reason, Taye put her credit card into her hands.

"Don't lose it, girl. Meet us on the bottom floor in a few." Following that, Lil' T and her big sister left her behind.

The awkward German watched them walk away, then looked at the credit card. She turned her back and decided to make another run around the mall, leaving crumbs of her shell across the floor.


	10. MacCoy

**Author's Note:** I wasn't gonna throw a note in here but this chapter is over 3,000 words long. Just a heads up. I was too far into it when I was typing this out. If you enjoy long chapters, hooray for you!

* * *

Sometime in October, the Hi-Def crew was invited to a Halloween Dance Off. The list of crews participating was listed on the orange papered letter. Riptide, Flash4wrd and even Lu$h was included. The letter came with two charter bus tickets and a ticket that was required to get into the Dance Off. Of course the deal with tickets was a little unsettling, but one thing stuck out to them the most:

**No extra guests allowed.**

Kuchen became depressed about not being able to go with her brothers to the Dance Off. She really wanted to be there to support them and watch them demolish the other crews with little to no mercy. Mo attempted to buy her an extra ticket, but they were sold out. After further investigation, Glitch found out that the Dance Off was only 2 days.

But to Kuchen, that was still far too long.

The night to leave had arrived in no time and Mo had made arrangements for a German-sitter while he was away.

"B-but I don't wanna make anymore new friends... I wanna go with you guys..." Kuchen whined, refusing to let Hi-Def leave her behind.

"We won't be gone that long. It's just 2 days, K." the older African-American told her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"That's too long... don't leave m-me...", blue eyes pleaded, welling up with tears, a puppy face following them.

"The puppy face ain't gone work this time." Mo smirked, until tears made trails down her cheeks and sobs escaped her lips. "Hold up, hold up! Don't cry on me! C'mon! Please?"

Mo's begging didn't stop her from closing her eyes and letting out wails of emotional pain. Not only was she sad that they were leaving, but she was also afraid that her father would take this chance to come abduct and beat her until she couldn't stand.

"A'ight, I got it. Look, look. Imma make you a deal."

Kuchen looked up at him, biting her lip to stop the sobs.

"If you go to my friends' house and come back with a good relationship with them... I'll buy you your very own box of cereal."

The German's eyes widened in disbelief.

"And orange juice. Extra pulp."

Her eyes opened bigger and her lips parted slightly.

"And if we win the cash and the trophy, I'll take you out for smoothies."

Giving a huge gasp, Kuchen stared up at Mo, expecting him to be joking. When she finally came to the conclusion that he wasn't, she gave him a breath-taking hug.

"Well, what are you standing around for? I wanna make new friends now!" the somewhat skinny girl shouted, grabbing her jacket off the living room couch and heading down to the car.

* * *

During the ride to her German-sitter's house, Kuchen laid in the backseat of Mo's car, not even bothering to put on a seat belt. Glitch sat in the passenger's seat with his iPod hooked up and an exhausted look on his face. He knew that the ride to the bus would be long and he decided to sleep on the bus. He didn't wanna fall asleep and miss saying 'good-bye' to his German friend.

Arriving to a tall 2-story house on a corner decorated with a ton of jack-o-lanterns, bright orange lights, creepy bats and hanging ghosts, Kuchen stared out the window, a fearful look planted on her face.

"I-I'm scared..."

"Don't be. Just go out and knock on the door.", Mo said, putting his car into 'park'.

The German slowly got out, closing the door behind her. She held her suitcase with both hands as her palms became sweaty. Taking one unsteady step after another, Kuchen creeped closer to the haunted looking house. The fall breeze blew over her, shaking the trees and wrapping itself around her legs. She quietly scolded herself for wearing leggings on a breezy night like this.

Kuchen reached out a shaky, sweaty, pale hand and knocked on the wooden door. The high-pitched barks of a canine caused Kuchen to back away quickly and hold her hand close to her chest. The barking continued with a couple of growls in between.

The door swung open to reveal a male with blond hair and a pair of orange goggles on his face. He had on a black shirt with the picture of a smiling pumpkin and a pair of black sweatpants.

He stared at Kuchen then looked over at the car which Mo was standing outside of. The Russian waved to the African-American and he waved back. The white Shih Tzu barking next to him attempted to get outside, but the Russian put his foot in front of her.

"Take a chill pill, dawg."

The small pup licked his foot in an attempt to get him to move it, but to no avail. A female bearing pink hair, a short sleeved shirt, shorts and long black, white and orange sleeves on her arms approached the doorway, eying the German outside.

" 'Ello, there. Are you the German were supposed to babysit?", she asked, British lingering on her voice.

Kuchen didn't answer, completely afraid of the people before her. She dropped her suitcase and abruptly ran back down the stone pathway and into Mo's arms.

"I-I'm more scared of them than I am of the house..." Kuchen admitted, tightening her grip around Mo's waist.

"You need to chill. Big time."

"Don't make me go... take me with you..." the azure-eyed teenager begged, hoping that he'd finally crack down.

"Cereal. OJ. Smoothies. Remember those 3 words the entire time you're here." her 'older brother' reminded her, gently pushing her off of him.

Kuchen looked over at Glitch in the passengers seat who was laying his cheek down on the door, sleepily hanging his hand outside of the car. Half-lidded eyes stared at the German, silently saying good-bye. Putting her head down in defeat, Kuchen forced herself to slowly walk back up to the bright and slightly terrifying house.

She picked up her suitcase and stepped inside of the warm and cozy home. She listened to her German-sitters yell _'peace-out'_ and _'cheers'_ to her brothers. Although she wanted to cry, Kuchen couldn't bring herself to. It was just 2 days after all, right?

The door closed as the blond and coral-haired duo danced in front of her.

"Yo yo yo, what's yo name, girl?", the Russian asked, still dancing for no apparent reason.

Kuchen didn't reply to them and put her head down.

"Aww, she's a little scared. We're not gonna hurt ya, love!" the dancing pink-haired female grinned, waving her entrancing sleeves in the air.

Playing with her blue bangs, the nearly-not-so-skinny girl looked up at the two she'd be stuck with for the next 3 days and 2 nights. To be honest, she thought that they had some pretty intense dancing skills. Not better than Hi-Def, but insanely close.

"I'm Kuchen.", she finally spoke, tilting her head up to get a clear view of her German-sitters, who were still dancing.

"Aww, yeah, baby! She's willin' to hang with D-Coy, Dare!"

"Now that's what we were hopin' for! Nice to meet you, darling. Name's D.A.R.E. And this Russian bloke here is MacCoy." Dare introduced, twirling her sleeves more.

"You can call me 'Coy. Whatever floats ya boat." MacCoy added, dropping into a split and standing back up to his feet again.

Kuchen rubbed her cheek uncomfortably, as Dare took her suitcase from her.

"H-hey, that's mine."

"Ya want it? Come and get it!" Dare exclaimed, running off with the light yellow suitcase down a hall.

Kuchen followed, as the white puppy chased after it's female master, a smile on it's face.

As the black and orange dressed dancer ran into a guest room and jumped onto the queen-sized bed, the pasty canine ran in circles and licked it's reflection in the body mirror in the corner of the room. The German ran in and looked around at the guest room, scanning the empty shelves, the flat screen TV, the tall fancy dresser and the high white bed. It reminded her of her room that she once slept in back at home. The only things missing were the colors and her stitched up teddy bear that she'd missed so much.

"Here's where you'll sleep. Don't be afraid to unpack your stuff and relax a bit. The bathroom is back down the hall and it's the second door to your right. That's your bathroom cause 'Coy and I have our own in our rooms." Dare told her, placing her suitcase on her bed. "I'll be back to check on you later. Cheers, then."

The Shih Tzu pranced over to Kuchen and began to sniff and lick her leg. She wagged her tail and barked at her. Kuchen whimpered, afraid of the creature with the orange bow on her head. Although it was cute, the German had never seen anything like it. The little pup wore a black and white collar around her neck with little ghosts printed on it.

"Stop scaring the girl, Dutchess." her owner told her, attempting to get her away from the blue-eyed German.

Dutchess jumped up onto Kuchen's leg, wanting to play with her. Kuchen refused by hopping up onto her bed and gripping her bed sheets, looking as fearful as ever.

"Don't be scared. Dutchess is a sweetie. She don't bite. And she loves dancing just like her mommy does. Ain't that right, Dutchess? C'mon, Dutchess! Dance, girl!" Dare said, waving her sleeves around in the air.

The canine stood up on her hind legs, giving a little dance, her tongue hanging out of her mouth happily.

"Good girl! Let's go! C'mon now!" Dare ordered, patting her thigh as the canine ran out of the room with her mother, closing the door behind them.

* * *

Sitting alone in her new room was boring. Kuchen wanted to do something exciting, but not with her German-sitters. She truly missed Mo and Glitch, even though she'd only been there for no more than 4 hours or so. Looking up at the clock, Kuchen sighed, realizing that it was only 9:12pm. It was going to be a long, long night.

A knock on her door made her jump and hold her chest.

"Mind if I come in? That is, if you're decent A.T.M."

Kuchen rose up and opened her door, only to spot the goggled Russian from earlier. She gave him an uneasy smile and let him in. He danced his way in and set a bowl of fried rice onto the dresser, along with a bottle of orange juice and two packaged strawberry shortcakes. MacCoy turned to her and gave her a grin.

"It was Dare's turn to cook dinner tonight. This rice ain't as bad as it may look. It's boomin'. That's a promise. Word."

The ribbon-tattooed girl didn't hear a word he'd said. She was too entranced by the freckles on his face. MacCoy's cheekbones and nose were the only things she focused on. She had the urge to poke them and rub them. She wondered if they'd come off his face or if it was just make-up.

Awkwardly extending both hands towards his face, Kuchen oogled at MacCoy's freckles, just as she did Angel's studs. Although he did flinch a little upon contact, 'Coy let her experiment anyway.

Mo had told him not to be alarmed when she does something out of the ordinary. She was new to the world and even though she had been exploring for nearly 8 months, Kuchen still had so much to learn. And judging by the way she'd touched MacCoy's face, she was way behind on schedule.

"Oh, _Entschuldigung! Ich miene,_ sorry..." the German apologized, accidentally using her native language and taking her hands off of his face.

"Don't sweat it. 'Coy don't mind." the style head soothed, making sure not to make her too uncomfortable, just as Mo had told him. "Poppin' tats, by the way!"

Kuchen looked at the tattoos on her arms and attempted to cover them, completely oblivious that they'd been there for 8 months.

"T-thank you, Mr. MacCoy."

'Coy flung his hand over his mouth and gave a muffled chuckle. Kuchen gave him an awkward stare.

"What's so funny?"

"Not a thang. Momo told me you had learned some super fresh moves. True or False?" the Russian asked, dancing a bit as he couldn't resist the urge.

"Y-yeah... just a little." the German admitted, remembering how Mo put her through gentle yet, tiring training. It did begin to get easy at some points as Kuchen began eating healthy and following the rules of the book that Emilia had gave her. She could feel her strength rushing back into her body with every passing second of the day.

The style head picked up the food and orange juice he'd set on the dresser a few minutes ago and headed out the door. Kuchen watched him leave, questioning where he was going with her dinner.

"If you're ready to grub, I'd follow the man!"

Shutting off the light to her room, the blue-haired female followed him down another hall to his room, her stomach growling angrily at her.

Walking into a spacious master bedroom, Kuchen officially wanted to sleep in there. There were posters covering the wall. Mostly of comic book characters and old-school funk groups. Ancient vinyl records littered the walls and there was a huge shelf full of comic books in plastic that Kuchen so desperately wanted to touch and open. Looking up at the ceiling fan, the German became hypnotized by it's slow spinning. Round and round and round and round and rou-

"You cool, K?"

Snapping out of her hypnosis, Kuchen looked at MacCoy, stumbling a little and wobbling, attempting to catch her balance. She fell onto the green rug placed on the floor and laid on her back, watching the room spin.

"I-I'm okay..." she replied. "I'm perfectly fine."

'Coy disappeared as blue-eyes stopped rotating. She didn't really notice, as her stomach scolded her again, forcing her to remember that she's hungry. Getting up and plopping down on the king sized bed with the lime green sheets, Kuchen ate the food that was sitting on a wooden tray. Although the brown rice looked unappealing, MacCoy wasn't lying. The rice was probably the best food she'd ever tasted in her entire life. The rainbow like vegetables appealed to her, making her eat bite after bite.

The Russian emerged from his bathroom and headed over to a corner in his room. Kuchen was too busy enjoying the orange juice she was given, along with the strawberry shortcakes she'd just fell in love with. The sweet, white cream and the fluffy cake on the outside made her melt. She had thoughts of marrying the pastries as she watched a random TV show on 'Coy's flat screen.

Glancing over for a split second at the style head across the room, the German watched him tamper with some awkward looking equipment. Rising to her feet and stalking over, one step after another, Kuchen got closer and closer to see that the equipment had two large discs placed on them. She scanned each and every adjustable thing on the table, eyes wide with desire to touch. Touch. Touch.

"Touch...", she drooled, extending a hand towards the turntables.

Suddenly, the lights were cut out, casting a thick blanket of darkness over the room. Kuchen looked around and couldn't see a thing. She reached out both hands in front of her in order to feel or grab a hold of her Russian counter-part.

"M-Mr. MacCoy? A-are you there?"

Colorful lights flickered on and circled the room in crazy shapes. The German looked up and around the room, noticing rainbow like DJ lights fluttering about. She was surprised that she didn't notice all of them before. There were so many. The speakers behind her began to play a string of funk music loudly and she looked towards the center of the room to spot MacCoy dancing away to the beat.

"Get over here, girl! Get yo groove on!" 'Coy yelled, gesturing for her to come dance with him.

Kuchen stepped over to him and danced. No matter how awkward she shook her hips or swung her arms, MacCoy didn't seem to care. He kept a smile on his face and danced with her. Mo had told the Russian to make her feel at home and that's exactly what he did. Kuchen had forgotten all about her 'brothers' who were probably miles away by now.

She stayed up for hours, grooving and laughing with her new friend. At one point while dancing with him, Kuchen slipped on the hardwood floor. On her way down, the German grabbed the Russian by the arm, pulling him down with her. The impact was gruesomely painful, but hilarious all-in-all. MacCoy had told her to get up and dance it off.

Throughout the long hours of the night, Kuchen had learned how to use the style head's DJ equipment, create a mix which they'd record and call their own, and make up a dance with him to Junior Senior's _Move Your Feet_.

When the activities and music had died down, and bottles of cool water were rewarded, Kuchen had told 'Coy all about the life she'd lived before she'd met Hi-Def on the terrifying, but lucky, February afternoon. He'd asked so many questions about it and was baffled by the actions her father had took upon her, wondering how anyone could be so cruel.

"Stop playin'. He didn't do that."

"He did. I could remember the anger on his face. He was so red and furious. I still have the scars..."

"Lemme see!" MacCoy urged, eyes wide with amazement.

Pulling the right sleeve of her dress down and exposing her skin, Kuchen let the blond look and lightly touch the red scars on her shoulder and upper chest.

"What'd he cut you with, though?"

"A box cutter." Kuchen told him.

"You're messin'! That ain't fo' real!"

"It's true."

"That's yonkers." MacCoy frowned, as the sapphire-haired other fixed her dress back.

Silence had snaked it's way into the DJ's room. Neither of them spoke. Blue-eyes absently looked at the water bottle that the owner of them had held. Memories of Kuchen's terrifying past had occupied her mind again, drawing her away from the outside world. Her eyes had unsuspectedly welled up with salty tears. The blond DJ noticed this and snapped into action, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her head to his chest.

"Stop thinkin' about yo past, K! Ya homie, MacCoy, is gonna keep you safe, ya heard?" he exclaimed, holding up his bottle of H2o.

Kuchen blinked in wonder, then beamed at him, taking a look around the room afterwards, where large bits of her shell were scattered all over the floor.


	11. Dare

Sitting up in her new room, that she couldn't remember going to, Kuchen shielded her eyes from the blinding, afternoon sun. The German rubbed her blue eyes and yawned, taking a peek over at the black, kitten-themed clock on the wall. It wasn't too far into the day, but it was time for her to get up, that was for sure.

After fishing her toothbrush from her suitcase and taking a face towel from the the hallway closet, Kuchen made her way to the bathroom to freshen up. While brushing her teeth, she stared into the mirror, smiling at how different and more healthy she'd looked now. Her skin had color, her hair had become shiny and her eyes finally glowed like everyone else's did. Kuchen faced a little to the left and noticed that there was a small piece of paper in her hair. Plucking it out, the German rinsed her mouth. Azure-eyes glided across the paper.

_Dear Ku-Ku,_  
_ MacCoy and I went out shopping. We left at 1:30 and should be back around 2:30. If you woke up between this time, here's a note. Relax and wait for us to come back. There's a box of Cocoa Puffs on the table and milk in the 'fridge. Mo had told us that you loved them. Cheers, then._  
_ -Coy & Dare_

It felt like she'd been whisked away by the wind, as the ribbon-tattooed female raced to the kitchen and seated herself with a bowl of the chocolate spheres. She only ate one bowl, as Mo had told her to watch her intake of the sugary cereal. Kuchen wanted more, but resisted, knowing that her 'older brother' had wanted the best for her.

The phone rang from the living room and Kuchen's heart jumped out of her chest. She rose up from her seat at the kitchen table and stalked over to the phone on the coffee table. Curious fingers reached over the wireless receiver and lingered. Kuchen looked at the caller ID.

"Bo... die?", she mumbled, reading the name and number.

The German lifted up the receiver and clicked a green button, putting it up to her ear.

"_H-hallo?_", she whispered, slightly nervous.

"Hey, Dare?" It really was Bodie.

"_Nein_, this is Kuchen." she responded, scratching her head.

"Kuchen? What are you doin' over at Dare and 'Coy's house?" the lifeguard had asked her over the faint chatter in the background.

"They're my German-sitters!" Kuchen exclaimed.

"...Hold up a sec."

Kuchen waited, just as Bodie'd told her. She watched the TV behind her play music videos and danced awkwardly to them.

"K? It's Mo."

The lonely German jumped up in excitement from hearing her 'brother's' voice.

"Momo!", she giggled.

"Sup? What's been goin' down?"

"I had so much fun with Mr. MacCoy last night! We danced and sung and remixed and stuff! Like we were real DJ's!"

"Sounds tight!"

"Where are you though, Mo? I've missed you."

"We're still on this bus. We'll be back home before you know it. I promise."

"I hope so..." Kuchen whimpered, fiddling with a button on her pajamas and listening to someone say, 'Lemme talk next!'.

"Later, man. Bodie wants his cell phone back. We'll see you in a day, Kuchen. Remember the deal we made." Mo reminded her.

"_Ja!_"

The German waited, expecting more talking to come through to her. There were tons of familiar voices in the background, crying out her name and whining to speak with her. Kuchen grinned, happy to know that her friends had missed her just as she did them.

"Hello?" Bodie was back.

"Hi, Mr. Bodie."

A chuckle was heard over the other end.

"Don't call me that. It's silly, K. Anyway, tell Dare to call me back when she gets home, alright?"

"M'kay! You can count on me, Mr- er... Bodie."

"So, what all have you been doin' over D-Coy's house anyway?"

Kuchen grabbed a seat on the couch and told Bodie about her amazing party that she'd had with her new Russian buddy. Even after her story, she kept talking to Bodie and asked him about what riding on the bus was like. Although he hated it, he told her that being able to speak with her made the ride a little more bearable.

Dare and MacCoy had come back with bags of groceries in their hands and spotted Kuchen on the couch.

"Who're you talkin' to there?" Dare asked her, thrusting the heavy bag of food she'd held into the goggled Russian's already full arms.

"Bodie, Dare's back!"

Dare plucked the receiver out of Kuchen's hands and put it up to her ear, commencing a short conversation with the lifeguard on the other end.

"I'll call you back later? Sounds about right. Cheerio." the sleeved woman hung up the phone and put it back on the charger. "Come on, girly. Help us put all this stuff away."

* * *

The day went on and while MacCoy had went off to go chill with a couple of buddies at the arcade, Kuchen was left home alone with the pink-haired Britain. The German decided that since there was nothing more to do, why not explore the cozy home?

The journey began in the living room, as Kuchen looked about. There wasn't much to see, so she headed past the dining room and into the kitchen. Looking through the cabinets, blue-eyes spotted cereal, canned goods, syrup, peanut butter, pancake mix, grits, oatmeal and a ton of other stuff. She looked into one cabinet and found multiple bottles of different shapes and sizes.

Liquor.

Curiosity nearly killed the cat as Kuchen picked up a bottle of clear looking liquid and popped off the top. She leaned her small nose near the opening and recoiled at the smell. Reading the bottle, the German had a bit of a tough time pronouncing the name.

"Vo...dkay... Vo... d... ka? Vuh-odd-kuh? Vodka. Vodka!"

The way the word rolled off her tongue made her giddy, causing her to giggle a bit. Kuchen repeated the word over and over again, excitedly, not even knowing what it meant. The urge to taste it was strong, but the smell was even stronger, resulting in the German closing and putting the bottle of liquor away. She skipped off, singing the new word in high and low pitches, continuing her adventure of D-Coy's house.

Stopping by a room she'd never even noticed before, the sapphire-locked female read the words on the door and stared at the cute pictures on the door. 'Dare's Room' was written in big neon green and pink letters on a piece of white computer paper. There were cute little pictures of hearts, DJ cats and British flags around it. Kuchen pushed the door open and found the Brit sitting upon her large bed, shoving cookies into her mouth.

"Ah... s-sorry...", she mumbled, slowly backing out.

"C'mon in, K. We haven't even gotten to know each other yet." Dare said, making space on her bed and patting an empty spot next to her.

The German sat with the Brit, closing the door behind her. Kuchen crossed her legs on the bed and watched the animated show that Dare was watching. The characters had big eyes and pretty faces. They were skinny and wore uniforms of some sort. Surprisingly, Kuchen was attracted to the way the show was made. She couldn't take her eyes off the screen long enough to look around Dare's room.

"You seem to like anime."

"Ani... me?", the German repeated, still staring at the screen.

"Yeah, you like it. You may not know what it is, but you like it." the coral-haired woman replied, pulling a box of chocolate Japanese candy from a dresser drawer next to her.

Kuchen looked over at Dare, who held out a skinny, skinny stick of biscuit covered with chocolate.

"W-what's this, Ms. Dare?", she asked, gently taking it from her.

"It's called 'pocky'. You can eat it."

The awkward victim nervously placed the candy into her mouth and bit off a small piece of the Japanese candy. She chewed slowly and warily... then smiled. Her taste buds, no matter how hard they'd try, couldn't resist another bite and chowed down the small stick. Kuchen held out a hand to Dare who handed her the entire box. One pocky after another, Kuchen stuffed her face, enjoying the new snack.

"So, you're from Germany?" the Brit asked.

"_Ja._ I miss it from time-to-time, but America is so diverse and has a drink called 'smoothies'! I haven't been to Germany since I was a little girl, so I'm not really sure if they have it there or not..." the German said, stuffing her face with more candy.

"They probably do. So, how have those boys been treating you, love?" Dare wondered, referring to Hi-Def.

"They're like brothers to me now. They're so sweet to me... Too sweet. I feel like a free-loader."

"Don't feel like that! They're offering, you take it! You're a roommate to them now."

"Y-yeah, but-"

"No buts! Free doesn't come often, K. Trust me, I know."

"O-okay... I guess."

Following that conversation, Dare and Kuchen spent the day watching anime and chowing down on Japanese snacks that the pink-haired dancer kept in her drawers. The no-longer-frail German was introduced to so much in just 3 hours. Anime, manga, Japanese culture, life in Britain, more food, K-Pop, J-Pop and a lot more.

After MacCoy had returned home, D-Coy and 'DJ Krazy K', sat down on the couch in the living room and watched the Halloween Dance-Off. Kuchen was surprised to know that it was being aired on TV and asked 'Coy why they weren't at the Dance-Off.

"We already went. We were involved in the first session. Came home with a silver trophy and 10k." he told her.

"So, what crew won?"

"Some rich crew called 'The Glitterati'."

"Ugh, I hated them!" Dare exclaimed from the kitchen while preparing snacks for the Dance-Off.

Kuchen looked back at the TV and watched as Emilia, her fitness helper, was interviewed.

"We've been working hard for the past few months. Sweat, pain, and a lot of frustration. But Riptide has come way too far to cabbage patch off the stage now." the female lifeguard spoke, smiling into the camera.

The German looked away from the screen and over at the style head who was going through his phone, which was hooked up to a charger extended from the wall. Kuchen awkwardly scooted over the warm spot; that was saved for Dare, and leaned over the DJ's shoulder, trying to get a good glimpse of his touchscreen device.

MacCoy felt her breathing on his neck and reached back a hand, running his fingers across the blue-eyed girl's ribs. Kuchen jumped with a slight giggle and held her ribcage, feeling the tingling run through them. She was surprised. What was that? He did it again, but this time, he kept going and she burst into laughter, scooting away from him breathlessly.

"W-what was that?!" the German questioned, breathlessly, smiling.

"You ain't never been tickled before?" the blonde asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Tickled? What's that mean?"

An evil smirk spread across the Russian's face and eyes glimmered behind green goggles. MacCoy lunged at Kuchen and ran his fingers across her ribcage rapidly. The teenager squirmed and exploded with giggles. She pushed at his hands, but they flinged back, playfully torturing her. Kuchen fell onto her back on the couch, MacCoy holding back laughs while quickly finding exposed places to tickle her.

Falling off the couch and panting deeply for air, the German rose to her feet and weakly ran to the kitchen, the Russian trailing behind her.

"M-Ms. Dare! M-make Mr. MacCoy stop!" Kuchen screamed, hiding behind the sleeved elder who was standing by the microwave, awaiting the completion of the popcorn.

"MacCoy, what in the bloody hell is going on here?" Dare asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Tickles. Hold her still!" 'Coy yelled, reaching for the hiding German.

Dare reached behind her and grappled at Kuchen's stomach, making her laugh once again.

"N-no! Not you too!"

"Yes! Lady D is all over this one, love!"

Rushing back into the living room, her tail between her legs, the girl with the ribbon tattoos crashed onto the couch, D-Coy following behind her. They splashed onto her, commencing more torture upon the mini German. The beeping from the microwave halted the fun, as Dare went to retrieve the buttery corn and the rest of the snacks she'd prepared. She returned with bowls of chips, packaged pastries, popcorn, some mini bottles of juice and some liquor, for her, of course.

The Dance-Off commenced with Lu$h crew, as Miss Aubrey and Angel appeared on stage. Dutchess pranced into the room and Kuchen pulled her feet up on the couch, fearing the dog once again.

"Dutchess ain't gone bite nobody, K. Just pet her." 'Coy said, popping a chip into his mouth.

Reaching a shaky hand down to the white Shih Tzu, the German ran a hand on the dog's back and she panted happily, rolling around on her back, begging for more pets. Kuchen picked the puppy up and set her on her lap, rubbing her back as she attempted to eat the food that D-Coy were lifting into their mouths.

"No, Dutchess. No table food. Bad pup." Dare scolded, taking a swing of vodka.

They watched as Aubrey and Angel danced on stage, wowing the crowd and the judges. The Latino picked up the red-head by the hips and lifted her up high, as she blew a flirty kiss to the crowd. Cameras zoomed in on males in the crowd who swooned as if the kiss had flew a hundred miles per hour and smacked them in the face.

"Flirty ending pose. I give it an 8." the Russian judged, sipping a glass of orange juice.

"Whatever! 7.5! They have more potential than that." the Brit retorted, as Dutchess barked in agreement.

More crews performed and MacCoy and Dare judged them as if they were the judges. Kuchen was too transfixed by the dancers and moves the other crews pulled off to worry about them. Commercial break was a time for the bathroom and retrieving more food.

"Stay tuned, ladies and gents! When we get back, we'll continue with the Hi-Def crew! Don't go away!" the announcer exclaimed as the Dance-Off faded away and went to a commercial for light bulbs.

MacCoy darted for the bathroom and Dare the kitchen with empty bowls. Blue-eyes watched commercials and pale hands ran themselves across the pasty fur of the canine. The Dance-Off returned in no time and as did D-Coy, taking their cold spots on the couch.

Kuchen's eyes glowed with excitement as an eerie sound played amongst the stadium. A hush went over the crowd. Big puffs of black, orange and white smoke covered the stage and emerging from it all was none other than the High-Def crew in all black and wearing terrifying skeleton masks with their hoods up on their heads. They dressed the exact same; black hoodies, black fingerless gloves, black skinny jeans, black converse, and the creepy skeleton mask.

Music played and they began to dance, taking the crowd's breath away with astonishing moves that they'd never seen before. Every crew had their amazing ability. Riptide had the smell of salt water and the beach-like appearance, Flash4ward had a flash mob, Lu$h pulled off the sexy ending pose and Hi-Def took it home with the smoke and costumes.

Their dancing ended and Glitch pulled his mask down over his mouth allowing the crowd to see his eyes. Mo pulled his up onto his head as if it were a part of a hat. Kuchen cheered, stuffing down another strawberry shortcake.

"Hmm... 9.6." Dare judged, nodding her head in approval.

"9.6? Really, D? I give it a 10!" MacCoy shouted, Dutchess taking his side with a bark.

The results were announced after a commercial break. The 12 crews stood on stage, some praying, others looking at the judges nervously. A blonde woman in a short red dress made her way to the stage and greeted the viewers at home and the crowd.

"The results are in!" she said, holding up a white envelope with a pumpkin sticker holding it closed. The audience's cheering died down as she pulled the envelope open and read over the results. "In 3rd place, we have Flash4ward!"

Taye and Lil' T came to her and accepted their bronze trophy and check for 5,000 big ones. They danced their way back into their spots as the woman continued reading off the results.

"In 2nd place,... we have a tie! Lu$h and Riptide, get up here!"

A harsh "WHAT?!" came from Miss Aubrey as she stomped her foot in utter anger. Angel rubbed her back as he went to the front of the stage, attempting to calm her down. Bodie gave Emilia a high-five as she took the silver, and slightly bigger trophy and Bodie carried the check for 10,000 dollars on his head. Angel carried both the check and trophy back to a heated red-head. She snatched the trophy from him and gave it an evil glare, clutching it mercilessly.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! The winners of the 10th annual Halloween Dance-Off is... **Hi-Def!** Give it up, people!" the beautiful blonde exclaimed, as Mo & Glitch gave each other an excited hug and ran to the mic where they received their tall, golden trophy and 20,000 dollar cash prize.

"Yay!" Kuchen smiled, clapping proudly.

The Shih Tzu yelped as if to congratulate them. Dare and MacCoy applauded as well, watching Hi-Def give a victory dance. They finally took the mic as confetti rained down.

"We kinda didn't know we were gonna win, so we didn't prepare a speech." the Korean admitted to the crowd.

"Yet, we just wanna say that it was an honor doin' this." the African American thanked, holding up the trophy with one hand, and leaning on Glitch's shoulder with the other.

"We had fun and we just wanna say, thanks to the fans and stuff, you know what I mean."

"And we also wanna say thanks to a certain lil' German who's waiting for us back at home," Mo said, winking at the camera.

Kuchen tilted her head in wonder.

"I wonder who they could be talking about..." she muttered.

"You, silly! They're saying that to you!" Dare laughed, nudging her playfully.

"Oh... you're welcome, Mo!" the German shouted, as if her could hear her.

"We know how much you miss us and yes, we will be going out for smoothies with this 20k we rollin' wit right now. Don't even worry!" Mo continued.

"We love you!" Glitch cooed, raising the large check up. The crowd 'aww'd'.

Kuchen beamed happily, yet sadly, wishing she could hug both of them at the moment. A piece of her shell cracked off of her back and landed on the couch, then hit the floor, shattering into several pieces.


	12. Smoothies and Close Calls

**Author's note:** A little conflict. This chapter was sorta rushed. If there's any errors, leave a review or something, please? Or just leave a review in general! Enjoy!

Also, there's a special guest in there~

* * *

After picking Kuchen up from D-Coy's crib, Mo took his little prodigy and German 'sister' out for smoothies. Walking into the restaurant, they were greeted by cheers and people asking for their autograph. Afraid of being trampled by the large crowd, Kuchen slipped away from the commotion and looked for an empty booth.

The German sat in a booth of a corner, patiently waiting for Hi-Def to finish with their rabid fans. She picked out a menu that sat in a basket upon the table. Sapphire-eyes scanned the menu and peachy pink lips were grazed by a slimy, coral-colored tongue.

"Raspberry Rush... or Mango Madness...?" Kuchen wondered aloud, "Ooo... Strawberry & Blueberry Twist ... or Vanilla Blast...?"

"Are you ready to order, ma'm?"

Lowering her menu, Kuchen looked up and spotted a somewhat tall, coffee-haired young man. He looked about the age of 18 and had a faint goatee on his chin. His eyes were colored hazel and were almond shaped. He had to be mixed with something Asian related. His short hair rested just near the beginning of his jaw-line. Kuchen observed the many piercings he'd had in his ears and the way his bangs split near the center of his head, revealing his eyes.

"N-no... n-not yet..." Kuchen murmured, putting her menu back up, avoiding the man's gaze.

"That's fine. I'll be right here when you're ready." he told her, sitting down next to her and pulling out his cellphone.

Kuchen scooted against the wall and wondered when Mo and Glitch would be coming over. Stealing a peek at the man who was contently sitting next to her, Kuchen's heart throbbed. What this feeling was, she didn't know. It was different. Very different. She looked back down at the menu in front of her and flipped to a section involving food.

"Need any help?" the waiter asked.

"N-no thank you, Mister! _I-ich miene..._ that'd be nice..."

"You speak German? That's cool! So do I! _Gib mer das._" He told her, pointing to the menu she'd held. Kuchen handed it to him and watched as he laid it flat down on the table. "_Ich empfehle diese._"

The girl with the ribbon tattoos looked at what he'd pointed to. It was a picture of a large plate of nachos that was topped with meat, cheese, salsa, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos.

"Ooo, _ja! Gut!_" Kuchen drooled. "And a Raspberry Rush smoothie?"

"Of course, m'am." the waiter scribbled onto his notepad and rose to his feet, leaving to retrieve her meal and smoothie.

Kuchen melted into her seat, feeling her face to make sure that it hadn't heated up. Hi-Def approached the table, looking exhausted, but happy.

"Lookin' a lil' red. You a'ight?" Glitch asked her, sitting down after Mo.

"Y-yeah! Just... fine. I-I already ordered."

"That's all good. We can afford this whole menu." the chocolate elder gloated, referring to the money they'd won.

Looking to her right, the German glanced across the room to a table full of older boys. They were staring at her and some of them waved and winked. Kuchen ignored them, looking back down at the table. The waiter from earlier came back with a tray of nachos that she'd ordered and the raspberry smoothie.

"Dang! You ordered this?" the prodigy exclaimed, already digging in.

"W-well, I kinda got some help..." Kuchen admitted, pointing to the waiter, who waved at them then, walked away.

"All we need now are a couple of smoothies and we'll be set." Mo said, reading over the menu.

* * *

The B-Boys and their awkward roommate ate, joked and laughed throughout the night. Little did they know, their very presence was luring in customers. A long line formed outside and every now and then, a couple of fans approached them, asking for pictures and autographs. Suddenly, Mo and Glitch decided to go outside and have a quick talk, which Kuchen was curious about.

She sat alone at the table anyway, sipping at her 6th Raspberry Rush smoothie of the night. She looked down in her lap and then looked back up. Across from her sat a guy she didn't think she'd knew. He was Mo's color in skin and had a red hat on his head. He wore a red and white jersey and sported cocky muscles, along with a perverted smirk.

"Sup, baby?"

"H-hi...?" Kuchen replied, raising an eyebrow and sipping on her smoothie uncomfortably.

"I see them dudes from earlier left you for a minute. You shouldn't be treated like that. You deserve attention. Especially with a pretty lil' face like that."

The German dodged his wink, staring out of the huge glass windows at Mo and Glitch who were still talking outside.

"You sure you don't wanna roll with me and my boys? We'll take you home. Show you a good time." he smirked, biting his lower lip and jerking a thumb over at the table of older males she'd saw earlier. They watched, studded ears glistening in the light and half-lidded eyes locked on her, like a bull to a red cape.

After discussing with the voice in her head that kept declining, Kuchen looked at him uninterested and politely said,

"No."

"No? C'mon, lil' ma. Don't be like that." the boy begged, reaching across the table.

"I think she said 'no', man."

"Hi, Momo!" the victim smiled, dancing happily.

The African-American male looked behind him to find the now well-known dancer, Mo. His Korean B-boy, Glitch, next to him, arms folded across his chest. He rose up and came face-to-face with the other chocolate male, chest puffed out.

"Aw. A'ight. Last time I checked, she wasn't mute."

"But the answer you got was 'no'. Clearly, she ain't diggin' you. And I can see why." Mo told him.

"That jersey." Glitch snickered under his breath.

"I'd watch who you talkin' to, short stuff." the player retorted, lifting his hat up and glaring down at the emerald-eyed Korean, who showed no fear of the man.

"If I were you, I'd retreat to that lil' table of wannabes over there." the Senior spoke, pointing towards the table of now glaring men, as Glitch sat down across from Kuchen.

The player tugged his pants onto his hips and gave a quick glance at Kuchen, then turned away from the trio. He began his stride back over to his table.

"Shit... she was probably poison anyway."

Mo was about to let him go, but that insult was a bit too far for him. Kuchen didn't know what it meant, but it was probably something bad since Mo had looked so angry.

"Mo? You cool, Mo?" Glitch had asked his elder, shaking him gently.

The older B-boy didn't respond and headed over to the table full of men. He tapped on the shoulder of the red-dressed other and he turned around, not surprised that Mo had confronted him.

"Yo... can I just say that ya boy ain't really diggin' the way you talkin' about my girl right now? I think you should apologize."

"Aw. My bad. I meant... **hella** poison." the player responded, as his group laughed behind him. "So like, you hittin' that?"

"What?" Mo questioned.

"You heard me. You gotta be. Even the lil' man over there is getting some too, right? He just look like he is. Ain't nobody that pretty gone be able to hang around 2 famous boys like ya'll, and not be beggin' for it. You know what I'm sayin'?"

The Senior sent him a glare from under his hat. He ignored it and kept talking.

"So how do you tame her? You grab her by the ponytail and force her down? Or is she already ready when you are?"

The gang laughed again, giving hoops and hollers in between.

"Another question. How good is she at throatin' it?"

Mo's fist unexpectedly made impact with the player's face and he landed on the table, people gasping at the sight and some cheering him on.

"B-big brother! _Nein!_" Kuchen yelled from across the room as Mo approached them.

He grabbed the German's wrist who grabbed her smoothie as he began quickly walking out the door. Glitch grabbed him and Mo's smoothie and followed up, glancing at the knocked-out player across the room.

"Momo, what were you thinking?" Kuchen asked him, watching as he looked for his car.

"Sorry, but ain't nobody gone talk about you like that and just walk away." Mo replied, pulling out his car keys.

The German gave a sigh and looked around at the dark parking lot. She watched as cars pulled in and out, some excited to see Hi-Def who were now departing. Blue-eyes directed their attention towards a black, sleek car. It was appealing to the eye and probably looked just as nice on the inside. But who emerged from it wasn't nice at all.

"Daddy...?" Kuchen whispered.

Glitch shot her a look of concern.

"What'd you say?"

"D-daddy..." she whispered again, eyes filling with tears and pointing a shaking finger towards a brown-haired man emerging from the attractive ebony car with a woman whom she didn't know.

Glitch snapped into action and pushed the two elders behind a random white truck and forced them to duck down.

"What is it, Glitch? You a'ight?" the chocolate elder asked his quick companion.

"Shh!" he urged, lowering his voice into a faint whisper. "Kuchen's pops is here! If her catches her, we might as well turn off the console, because it's game over!"

Mo cursed under his breath and slyly peeked under the car to spot his and a woman's feet headed their direction.

"They're comin'!" he whispered, sitting up straight.

_"N-nein... nein... weggehen... w-weggehen... lass mich in ruhe..."_ Kuchen muttered, unaware of what language she was speaking.

"Shush!" Mo harshly whispered, placing a hand against her mouth and holding her close to his chest, petting her softly to sooth her.

"So... you have a daughter I heard." the female faintly asked, her high heels clacking against the concrete.

"A daughter? No no no! Where'd you hear that from?" the male denied, chuckling.

"Hmm? So you don't? Everyone said they'd seen her before and talked about how cute she was! I heard she'd had the prettiest blue eyes!" the American woman cooed.

"It must've been my niece. I've never had a child." the German man lied, amusement in his voice.

"Oh, I see. How weird. Oh well. Come on! I heard that crew that'd won that Halloween Dance-Off was here tonight! Let's go meet them! That little Asian dancer has the chubbiest cheeks! And the tall, dark handsome one has the prettiest legs!" the lady laughed, tugging Kuchen's father past the white truck and towards the line.

"Let's go! C'mon!" Glitch whispered, heading over to Mo's car and hopping into the passenger's seat, the other two falling behind.

Mo wasted no time in starting the car up and heading out of the parking lot as quick as possible. During the ride home, Glitch looked behind him and into the backseat where Kuchen sat. He watched her lifelessly lay down. Her eyes had lost their color and a sad expression sat on her face.

The Korean felt her pain. Her father was truly evil. He even denied Kuchen's very existence.


	13. Birthday Breakfast

**Author's Note:** Just a quick something. I realized that I haven't updated in a while so there's this. Glitch is 2x the adorable in this chapter and Kuchen can't help but love cute things. She also mixes up _SKRILLEX_ with skillet and loves _BREAKIN' A SWEAT_. Since this was rushed, please tell me if you spot any errors. Hope ya'll like it!

* * *

Kuchen abruptly sat up on the couch in the living room, eyes wide and gripping the blanket draped over her. She peeked at the clock behind her sitting on the coffee table.

_"Acht..."_ she whispered and reached for the phone perched next to the digital clock, dialing in a number she'd memorized in German. _"fünf-fünf-fünf... elf-drei-sechs..."_

"You ready?" a male asked on the other end when he answered.

_"Ja..."_ Kuchen replied, being sure to keep her voice down and rising off the couch, heading into the kitchen. "So, how do I do this again? And what's an egg?"

A chuckle sounded from the phone.

"This is gonna take a while, but you'll figure it out soon, Kuchen."

"I hope so, Mr. Angel. Cooking sounds hard. You're the only one I know that knows how to make extremely tasty meals." the German complimented, pulling the bacon out of the refrigerator.

"_Gracias._ Now, eggs are small and white. Be careful with them, _amiga,_ for they are very, very fragile." Angel warned.

"What's that mean again?" Kuchen asked, as an egg fell and cracked against the floor. "Oh..."

"I told you so. Don't worry about it. Pick it up and throw it away."

Placing and holding the phone between her ear and shoulder, pale fingers reached down and picked up the poor, splattered egg. Kuchen grimaced as the clear liquid seeped between her fingers and the shells poked her hand. She stepped over to the trash can and dropped it in, rinsing her hand off afterwards.

The teenager pulled the rest of the eggs out of the refrigerator and carefully, but quietly, rinsed them off.

"Now what?" she muttered, bending down and wiping the remains of the egg of the floor with a wet cloth.

"You know what a skillet is, yes?"

"Yeah! He's a dubstep artist!" the blue-haired girl smiled.

"No, it's a pan." Angel corrected, Miss Aubrey faintly speaking about something in the background.

Kuchen picked out the skillet easily from the cabinet and placed it on the stove. She turned it on by twisting the knob on the stove. She'd never tell, but she had secretly looked up using stoves and fire safety on Glitch's tablet yesterday night.

"Now, gently crack the egg in half. You remember the hand motion I taught you?" the Latino asked.

"Yep!" Kuchen replied, picking up an egg and cracking it in half, then letting it plop into the non-stick pan, sizzling gently. She danced a little, proud of herself, while repeating the action several times.

_"I'm breakin' a sweat... it's alright... I'm breakin' a sweat... I said, it's alright... I'm breakin' a sweat... it's alright... I'm breakin' a sweat.."_ she sang, then suddenly making noises with her lips, mimicking the song she had stuck in her head.

Angel snickered on the other end, adoring her child-like attitude.

"Is everything going alright?"

"Yeah! Peachy!" Kuchen whispered, counting the eggs she saw in the pan. "Is 7 enough?"

_"Perfecto. "_

After 45 minutes of stiring eggs, learning to make her own pancake batter, and getting popped by 'evil bacon', Kuchen had made two plates of a delicious breakfast.

_"Danke,_ Angel! It came out well." the teenager thanked, staring at the hot bacon, pancakes and eggs set in front of her.

_"De nada. Hasta luego."_ Angel replied.

"Alright! See ya!" Kuchen whispered, hanging up and placing the phone on the dining room table. She picked one red gatorade from the refrigerator and picked up a plate of food, heading to Mo's room.

Pushing the door open and tip-toeing towards the bed that the shirtless elder was sleeping in, Kuchen made sure not to be too loud, avoiding waking up the young Korean who was only a room over. The German leaned over Mo, watching him sleep contently. He breathed softly, his chest rising and falling and his lips parted just slightly.

"Mr. Mo..." Kuchen whispered lovingly, watching him sleep. "Momo... big brother..."

The chocolate figure only stirred a bit, turning over on his side facing her and tugging his blue cover over his shoulder, curling up a bit. He continued with his gentle breathing and Kuchen called him again. A little impatient and worried that his food was getting cold, the German placed the cold gatorade bottle against his cheek. He rose up in surprise and touched his now chilly face.

"G'mornin', Ku... what's up?" Mo greeted sleepily, yawning and extending his arms, his joints popping in reply.

"I made you breakfast! Happy Birthday!" Kuchen whispered, smiling and setting the plate of food she'd made on his lap.

The King of Flash stared down at the food placed in front him and scratched his head, grinning and taking the bottle of red gatorade from his roommate.

"How sweet. It looks good and all, but I'm not a big fan of eatin' with my hands." Mo told her.

"O-oh no... I messed up..." Kuchen whimpered, walking out.

Mo waited patiently and placed a random lime green and sky blue hat on his head. He glanced over at the calender on his wall next to his bed. November 20th. Although his birthday had passed and Glitch's birthday was less than a week away, Mo knew something was up since his phone had vibrated several times earlier that morning, indicating multiple text messages.

Kuchen returned with a sliver fork and gave it to her older brother, staring at him as he ate some of the eggs off of his plate.

"S-so... how does it taste?"

"Not bad. Needs a little salt, but not bad." the elder judged, nodding his head with approval. "I'm also missin' somethin'."

"Hmm? What?" the German asked eagerly, afraid that she may have messed up his breakfast.

Mo placed his plate down next to him and wrapped his arms around his roommate, pulling her into his lap and flicking on the TV.

"My baby sister." he replied as Kuchen grinned up at him. He picked up his plate and continued eating, directing his attention towards the television.

The German got up from her seat with him after a while and kissed Mo's nose then, skipped out of his room, retrieving Glitch's plate which was, surprisingly, still hot. She poured a glass of lemonade for him, remembering how he talked about how it was his favorite one day.

Kuchen made her way to his room and pushed the door open gently with her toe. The prodigy slept in his bed, his blanket up to his nose. The curtains behind him were closed, blocking away the light from the sun that threatened to shine into the room and wake him from his slumber.

The azure-haired female stepped over to his bed, adoring his position. He was curled up under a small blanket on top of all of the other sheets. The blanket was somewhat small for him and if he dared stretch out, his feet would poke out from underneath it and into the cold air of the apartment. Kuchen observed the game controller on the bed, along with an empty box of rice crackers and an empty two liter bottle of strawberry soda. Looking back at the blanket, Kuchen gasped... then stifled a giggle.

The blanket was printed with pandas listening to music, earphones sitting on their heads.

"Glitch... wake up." the German whispered to the Korean. "Little brother..."

"Pancakes..." the boy mumbled.

Kuchen reached up to his ear and plucked out an earphone. Glitch's eyes opened and he sat up tiredly, rubbing his eyes afterwards. His roommate sat on his bed next to him.

"I have food for you. Happy Birthday!" she smiled, presenting the food to him.

"Thank you..." Glitch replied, then rested his head on Kuchen's shoulder. "I'm tired, K..."

"I have lemonade, too."

"Okay... I'm waking up." the Korean took the plate from her and set the cup of lemonade on his nightstand. He began to eat, smacking at the juicy bacon in his mouth.

Kuchen wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug, laying her head in his messy hair.

"Baby brother..." she cooed.

"For the last time, I ain't no baby." Glitch groaned, picking up a pancake with his bear hand and putting it into his mouth.

"Baby brother and his cute little blankie..."

Glitch blushed in embarrassment. That was the only reason he hated people in his room in the morning: he didn't have time to hide his embarrassing blanket.

"Whatevs, yo..."

Mo found his way into the room in a hoodie and his boxers. He laid down on the other side of the bed and got comfortable.

"Cute blanket, G."

"Mo! No!" the junior weeped.

"I told you so!" Kuchen laughed, hugging his blanket tightly.

"Stop it!" he paused. "And everybody get outta my room!"


	14. Oblio

**Author's Note: **Got into the zone while typing this. I suggest listening to **Orion by She **while reading this. It'll set the mood. We're almost done with the story! It's been a long run here and I am proud to say that this was a success! Thank you so much for supporting me! I have a couple of spin-off oneshots from this in the works but we'll read those when we get there. Enjoy.

* * *

Our little German teenager had found herself lost on a cold, winter night. It was the middle of December and she had been relaxing with Mo and Glitch, whom she claimed as her brothers. They had just finished putting up the Christmas tree in Mo's apartment. She had fallen asleep on the couch and when she had awoken, she was outside in the cold.

Kuchen slipped her hands into her coat pockets. Maybe she had sleep-walked out. She had her coat with her, she was wearing her knee highs (which she could now fit), and she wore the new black boots that Miss Aubrey had blessed her with a week ago. The German couldn't remember anything. When she got up, she couldn't remember. When she got dressed, she couldn't remember. When she had walked outside, she couldn't remember. Everything was a blur.

Sapphire, sparkling eyes looked down the street. Mo had taught her about landmarks and street names so, just in case she got lost, she could find her way back home. Kuchen looked around, street lights nearly blinding her.

"If I were on the right street, I'd be on Dance Central Ave." she muttered, squinting her eyes at a tall green, crossed sign on the end of a corner. Neither of the names matched.

A car passed her, making her flinch. A cold breeze blew by after it, tinting the awkward roommate's ears red and making her more pale than usual. Don't get her wrong, she loved the winter, but it made her think of how she was stashed into a basement every winter by her father.

Kuchen thought back to how frail she was in the beginning of the year and compared it to now. She had gained weight, a lot of it, bringing her from 83 pounds to 129 pounds in the blink of an eye. She had also gained muscle on her arms, stomach and legs, making her more stronger and more confident in herself. Reaching up and brushing her azure hair out of her eye and the thoughts from her mind, Kuchen continued her way down the street, somewhat desperate to get back home.

"I hope that Momo and baby brother aren't worried about me." she whispered to herself, holding her skirt down from the rushing winter wind, then sticking her hand back into her pocket.

Kuchen squinted down the street and spotted a bench under a street light. She decided that it'd be nice to take a seat and attempt to retrace her steps. Upon getting closer to her destination, Kuchen realized that there was a man sitting on the bench. She bit her lip, contemplating whether or not it'd be a good idea to sit next to him. What if it were her father? She silently scolded herself for being paranoid, then strode over to the bench, taking a seat as far away from the man as possible.

Propping a fist under her chin, she began to think.

"Are you lost?"

Stepping out of her simple thoughts from her simple mind, Kuchen looked over at the man in the the waist-length, black leather coat and ebony and yellow scarf.

"Uhm... yes. H-how did you know?" she wondered.

"The way you walk is an insecure walk. You also look around an awful lot, showing that you are unfamiliar with your surroundings." he told her, keeping his head down and his hands in his pockets.

The German was dumbfounded by his observations. She looked at his blue-hair glistening in the street lights. It was short in the back and long in the front. Kuchen's hair was brighter than his, but she felt that they'd had something in common already.

"So, Mr... um..."

"Oblio."

"Mr. Oblio, why are you out here all by yourself? Wouldn't you like to be at home in the warmth?" the German asked.

"Not at all. I'd much rather be out here. Anything to get away from my father." Oblio explained.

Kuchen inhaled then, exhaled. She watched her breath turn white in the winter air and disappear before speaking.

"So you want to get away from your daddy as well, hmm?" she breathed, sympathy dripping from her voice.

From the corner of her eye, Kuchen watched the man look up at her, a hint of surprise on his face. She turned to look at him, staring at the dark lines under his almond shaped eyes.

"I'm actually kinda safe though. My father wants me dead. I ran away from home and now he's out to get me..."

"I see. My father is just insane and embarrassing. I can sympathize with you."

Kuchen averted her eyes from his gaze and sighed deeply. She jumped as a hand touched her head. Looking back over, she watched awkwardly as Oblio fixed the blue hair on her head. He smoothed one stray hair after another over to the right side of her forehead. He pulled away, letting his hand linger for a bit, then went back to work, fixing more of the blue locks. Oblio finally stopped, satisfying his OCD and placing his hand back into his pocket.

The wind blew by and Oblio hissed faintly, placing a hand back on the German's head and fixing her hair back that the wretched wind had ruined. Kuchen flinched and giggled.

"Is something the matter?" the Japanese man asked her.

"N-nothing. I'm just a little ticklish on my head..." the female chuckled.

A lone snowflake drifted from the sky and landed on Oblio's hand that was still atop the German's head. He halted, looking up towards the sky. Kuchen did the same, wondering what he was looking at. The snow began to fall swiftly, landing on the blue-haired male and female. They both watched the frozen bits of water, unaware of each other's presence now.

Scooting close to Oblio, the teenager laid her head on his shoulder.

"You're my new friend, Mr. Obio." she whispered, smiling to herself.

The Japanese didn't seem to mind her mispronunciation of his name, then looked off at the brightening, foggy clouds, realizing just how long he'd been there with his new German companion. He remembered that she was lost and how worried her guardians must be.

"Let's get you home."


	15. Ending

**Author's Note: **We've made it to the end! It's finally over! Tell me if you spot any errors and review, of course! I have an alternate ending coming as well. Love you guys! Enjoy~

* * *

Kuchen awoke in a bed for once in her life. She looked down at the black and white striped sheets that were draped over her, then looked at the electronic device that was hooked up to a charger extended from the wall, sitting on her bed. Her birthday was today, according to what she had remembered. December 23rd. She leaned on her side and picked it up, being careful not to unplug it.

Mo had got her a cell phone and her very own apartment, which Kuchen was skeptical about. She was happy that her older brother would do such a thing for her, using the 5,000 dollars he'd stashed away from the Dance-Off in October. The German was afraid, but Glitch had told her that she was eighteen and needed to be strong. She agreed. There really was nothing to worry about. Besides, Hi-Def had their apartment right above her, so she felt safe.

Kuchen thrust the blanket off of her body and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. Yawning and scratching the itch that sat beneath her thigh-highs, she slid through her phone, reading the multiple messages that were sent to her from her friends.

_ From: Emilia at 6:15am_  
_ Rise & Shine, K! Happy Birthday!_

_ From: Bodie at 6:20am_  
_ Happy B-Day K! I'll b sure to mak u a special smoothie! 3_

_ From: Miss Aubrey at 7:12am_  
_ Don't think that just because you're eighteen, you're better than everyone. Happy Birthday anyway. I have more clothes for you BTW. They're so last spring._

_ From: DJ MacCoy at 7:34am_  
_ Hav a groovin b-day, DJ Krazy K!_

The German felt positive energy course through her veins. She stood up and picked up a gray hoodie off of the floor, slipping it over her head and stepping outside of her room and into the living room, yawning and stretching. The figure before her made her breath hitch in her throat. She felt as if her heart had stopped.

"Oh. About time you made it back. Did you get the groceries?"

Kuchen's father sat before her on a black couch. He wore a white dress shirt, a pair of black pants from a suit and ebony dress shoes, laced perfectly. He crossed one leg over the other and played with the sharp kitchen knife in his gloved hands. The teenager began to shake. She fought back tears, holding one hand in the other.

"_Guten Morgen,_ my dear Schwanhild. Or should I say, 'Kuchen'?"

"M-Mr... Emil..." the girl whimpered.

"Why not call me Daddy like you used to? You think that just because you're all grown up now, you can call me by my real name?!" Emil growled, stabbing the knife through the leather of the couch.

His daughter wiped a runaway tear from her cheek with the sleeve of her hoodie. She listened to him speak, wanting to scream for Mo and Glitch who were probably asleep above her.

"Happy Birthday, my dear. Daddy's been missing you. Missing your whines and cries. He's been broken without you, and the house has to be cleaned by his hands. You know how daddy doesn't like to get his hands dirty." the German male spoke, fixing the white elastic gloves on his hands, then drawing the knife from the couch.

"You aren't my daddy... my daddy didn't hurt me like this. My daddy took me out for ice cream whenever I was sad, my daddy fed me! He never let me starve and deny my very existence!"

"That. Daddy. You once knew. Is. **DEAD!**" Emil shouted, making her flinch. He stood to his feet and clenched the knife in his hand, simmering with anger. "Now come home."

_"Nein!"_ Kuchen screamed and ducked as the knife was flung at her from across the small living room. The sharp object hit the floor. The sound of metal clacking against tile made her grind her teeth together.

"How dare you... I'll kill you!" her father yelled, stomping over to her.

His daughter grabbed the knife on the floor behind her and held it up to him, tears falling down her face. She was much more different than she was when she was taken in. She had become stronger, fearless and brave. Kuchen would die before she went back into that dark basement away from her friends and her new family.

"You're threatening to kill me now, are you? Just like you did your mommy?" Emil asked.

"I didn't kill her... that's not true..."

"It is true. Your constant whining and defiance made her kill herself! She's probably staring down at you now. What can you say?"

"I can say... t-that I didn't kill her..."

The man grabbed the teenager's wrist as she let her guard down and looked deep into her cobalt eyes with his crazed green ones. Kuchen whimpered under his tight grip that stopped the flow of blood to her hand. He guided her hand gently and placed the sharp end of the knife to his throat. He smirked.

"Go ahead. Do it."

His daughter looked at him, eyes wide with terror. Emil released his grip from her wrist and watched her with impatient eyes and flaming red skin.

"Do it! Fucking do it!" he screamed and Kuchen flinched as drips of spittle landed on her face.

The navy-haired girl's mind raced with a choice. She couldn't make up her mind and was close to accepting her death. Kuchen held her breath and thought of her journey to where she was now. She thought of how the shell she came bearing with was somewhere with her friends.

The piece near Emilia's treadmill.

The shard near the bar aboard Aubrey's yacht.

The part from the dance floor.

The crumbs and bits scattered across the floor in the mall.

The pieces in MacCoy's bedroom floor.

The half on Dare's floor.

And the piece she'd left on Oblio's shoulder a few weeks back.

She felt that she'd left a piece of herself with them and they'd have it, no matter what they did.

"You can't do it. You're still afraid." Emil told her, slapping the knife out of her hand and sending it across the room, spinning in circles on the floor.

Kuchen kicked her crazed father away and rushed towards the cooking object on the floor, diving and gripping it by the handle. A large amount of weight found itself onto her back and another gloved hand gripped her's, attempting to make her drop the knife.

"Schwanhild Goldschmidt, drop the knife."

"No... leave me alone already!"

The terrified figure on the bottom was flipped onto her back and the knife was taken from her then, thrown across the room into a random spot. The mastermind sat above her and placed his gloved hands around her throat, slowly beginning to cut off the airway. Kuchen squirmed under him and gripped his wrist, trying to pry them away, yet they didn't budge.

"You've filled out so much. Daddy isn't happy with this weight you've gained. I liked it better when you were skinny, dead, and lifeless. You remember the way you used to beg for me to feed you and I would decline? Then, you'd cry those soft, wet, sweet tears for me? Remember?"

Kuchen kicked weakly.

"Daddy wants it all back."

Lifting the girl's head a few inches off the ground, the man slammed it back down against the tile. He repeated this action and laughed maniacally as his daughter's tears hit the floor and she quickly began to black out under him, ceasing any other action besides breathing. Emil stood to his feet, staring down at the work below him. He smirked, grabbing Kuchen by an ankle and dragging her limp body out of the apartment door, a trail of blood from her head behind him.

* * *

Mo put his phone away in his pocket after calling his German sister for the 10th time today. He sighed and propped his arm up on the table in front of him, then looked up at Glitch who was setting it neatly.

"Did she answer?" he asked him, setting down a napkin, a plastic fork and knife, then a cup.

"Nah, man. She still ain't answerin'. I just hope that she's still sleepin' and ain't nothin' happen to her." the senior answered, worried.

"She's probably fine. You're just freakin' out." Emilia told him, walking by the table with a box full of bags of frozen fruit. She stopped by Bodie who sat behind a bar near a blender. "Kuchen's asleep maybe. Either that or workin' out."

"Ya'll gotta remind ya'll-selves though: her pops has still got it out for her." Mo said, raising up off the table as Glitch leaned over his shoulder to set the spot he was in.

"Or. We can all agree that she's eighteen now and is probably out doing important stuff with her new grown-up life." Miss Aubrey retorted, standing upon a ladder and extending her arms to hang up a banner.

"I agree with _Senorita_ Aubrey. She's probably out getting herself a boyfriend. She is good looking."Angel smirked to himself, letting his mind roam and letting the ladder lean a bit that Miss Aubrey was standing on. She screamed and Angel pulled the ladder back up to a straightened angle.

"Hold the ladder, Angel!" the red-head screamed, throwing a hair-pin at his head.

"Mah girl ain't gettin' no boyfriend just yet. Not if I don't like him." Mo chuckled, watching as Dare set a tall, colorful cake on the table that Glitch had set up.

"Didn't know you were her new daddy, Momo." the Brit said, looking over at him. "Ku's a grown-up now. She's pretty much free to do what she wants."

"Yeah, but-" the King Of Flash stopped mid sentence as he heard a motorcycle pull up outside of the building.

Dutchess barked by the double doors, constantly looking back at her owners to see if they heard it or not. Dare strode over and opened both of the heavy doors. A present was thrust into her face by a man in a black leather jacket and a helmet on his head.

"Oblio? What are you doing here?"

The Japanese man didn't reply and the half of D-Coy took the perfectly wrapped gift from him, then looked at the tag on the end of the ribbon on top.

"A present for Kuchen? How do you know her?" the Brit asked, watching Oblio take off his helmet and bend down to pet the Shih Tzu who hopped about on the floor.

"If it weren't for me, she probably would be somewhere far off." Oblio told her, standing to his feet and walking into the large building that everyone had rented to throw the party for the now grown-up German.

MacCoy sat at his DJ booth deciding what records to play when his phone had rang in the pocket of his sweatpants. He reached in, then pulled the phone out, looking at the caller ID. He answered the phone by simply sliding a finger across the screen, then placed it to his ear.

"Sup, Kuchen?"

He listened to the deep voice on the other end and his eyes widened underneath his goggles in realization.

Bodie sat with everyone else at another table, deciding what foods to have at the party. Taye decided that they should invite a ton of people over and Lil' T came up with a list of songs that everyone would like, ranging from old school to modern day. Glitch suggested that MacCoy should bring his DJ lights to the party as well and Dutchess barked in agreement. MacCoy had approached the table with a worrisome look on his face and his cell phone in his hand.

"What's the matter, 'Coy?" Dare asked him, concerned about the look on his face.

"Mo, the police is on the phone." the style head said, turning his attention towards the chocolate man who sat at the end.

"Why didn't they just call me?" Mo wondered, taking the phone from him.

"Kuchen's gone missing."

* * *

Kuchen awoke in a cold room and sighed deeply. The fight between she and her father ran through her mind repeatedly, scarring her one scene at a time. The German sat up, pulling her face off of the cold concrete floor and pulled her knees to her chest. Glancing around the room she realized it all too well. The single light on the ceiling, which was now on for once and the old furniture that sat about, collecting more and more dust everyday.

"The basement..." she whispered, holding back tears.

She reached back and rubbed the bandages wrapped on her head to stop the bleeding. Her headache was intense and her arms ached. Kuchen looked down in front of her and grimaced at what she saw. Before her sat the clothes that Aubrey had given to her. They were cut up into little pieces and reeked of bleach, which were slowly taking the color away from them. Next to the clothes, was a ripped up fitness magazine, along with the shattered goggles that MacCoy had given her and the cell phone that Mo had brought her. The screen was shattered and the battery was missing.

Kuchen reached up to touch the bangs that hung from her head and realized that they were damp with water. Using the cracked screen of the now useless cell phone, Kuchen looked at her reflection and gasped as she noticed that the blue hair that Glitch had given to her over and over was washed away and her black hair showed.

The German dropped the blue-green electronic device and put her face into her hands, sobbing with fear. After her long, long journey of getting to know the world, she was shut away from it and forced to grow a new shell upon her back. Kuchen thought that for sure she was free from Emil's clutches, but she was pulled back by her neck, realizing that she was only hooked to a leash.

Heavy stomping and shuffling feet above her made her lift her head up. Shouting ensued and she thought that her father had invited some of his cruel buddies over, but she heard lines that she'd never heard before.

"You're under arrest, sir!"

"Drop the weapon!"

"She's mine and you won't take her from me!"

"Hold him down!"

Kuchen curled up into the smallest ball possible and shook violently. The noise put fear into her and she thought that the men would be coming to attack her next. The door from atop the stairs slammed open and Kuchen covered her eyes, expecting death. She looked up at the men with badges and hats on their heads. They held their guns out firmly in front of them, scanning the room.

"Are you alright, Miss?" one of them asked, placing his weapon into a holster on his hip.

"P-please don't take me away," the German whimpered. "I-I did nothing wrong..."

"We're not gonna hurt you, ma'm. Your father is gone now. He won't be hurting you anymore." the same man said, holding a hand out to her.

* * *

Glitch waited outside of the home next to Mo, who bit his chapped lips worriedly. The prodigy watched the front doors along with a couple of other police men, hoping that the men that went in wearing the bulletproof vests would come back with a safe older sister. He felt guilty for persuading her into sleeping in the apartment alone and felt that he should've persuaded Mo instead to let her stay with them.

The scarf around his neck covered his mouth and he could feel his warm breath making it moist. Then, he stood up high on his toes, watching as the police men walked out of the doors of the house, then down the stairs, a shivering Kuchen in front of them.

"Kuchen!" he smiled, hopping excitedly as she rushed over to them and pulled he and his elder into a loving hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist happily, relaxed now to know that she was alright.

Mo planted a kiss onto her forehead and took off his coat, then wrapped it onto his little sister. Kuchen cried tears of joy which made her face even colder in the winter wind.

* * *

After being surprised and blowing out candles, Kuchen partied with her friends and a ton of other people who were pleased to know that she was finally okay. Mo had decided to take her back into his apartment and became more watchful of what she did and where she was. Glitch helped, being sure to keep an emerald eye on her whenever he felt that something could go wrong. She received a special smoothie from Bodie and plenty of different presents from her other even received some things from people she didn't know.

While everyone danced and enjoyed themselves, Kuchen sat alone a corner, stirring her smoothie tiredly. MacCoy danced over to her, surprised to see that she sat alone.

"What 'chu sittin' over here for, girl? It's ya birthday! You should be jammin' with us!" he shouted over the music.

"O-oh! Sorry! I'll be right over!" Kuchen yelled, watching him shuffle away. She rose from her seat and tossed the empty cup away into a nearby trash can.

For a second, she thought to herself. Then it occurred to her that she had to thank her father for doing what he did and sending her out to the grocery store nearly a month ago. If it weren't for him, she probably would have never met these truly bizarre people that she calls friends.


	16. Alternate Ending

**Author's Note:** The alternate ending to the story. It begins the same, ends completely different. I hope you guys dig it and tell me if you spot an error. Enjoy!

* * *

Kuchen awoke in a bed for once in her life. She looked down at the black and white striped sheets that were draped over her, then looked at the electronic device that was hooked up to a charger extended from the wall, sitting on her bed. Her birthday was today, according to what she had remembered. December 23rd. She leaned on her side and picked it up, being careful not to unplug it.

Mo had got her a cell phone and her very own apartment, which Kuchen was skeptical about. She was happy that her older brother would do such a thing for her, using the 5,000 dollars he'd stashed away from the Dance-Off in October. The German was afraid, but Glitch had told her that she was eighteen and needed to be strong. She agreed. There really was nothing to worry about. Besides, Hi-Def had their apartment right above her, so she felt safe.

Kuchen thrust the blanket off of her body and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. Yawning and scratching the itch that sat beneath her thigh-highs, she slid through her phone, reading the multiple messages that were sent to her from her friends.

_From: Emilia at 6:15am_  
_ Rise & Shine, K! Happy Birthday!_

_ From: Bodie at 6:20am_  
_ Happy B-Day K! I'll b sure to mak u a special smoothie! 3_

_ From: Miss Aubrey at 7:12am_  
_ Don't think that just because you're eighteen, you're better than everyone. Happy Birthday anyway. I have more clothes for you BTW. They're so last spring._

_ From: DJ MacCoy at 7:34am_  
_ Hav a groovin b-day, DJ Krazy K!_

The German felt positive energy course through her veins. She stood up and picked up a gray hoodie off of the floor, slipping it over her head and stepping outside of her room and into the living room, yawning and stretching. The figure before her made her breath hitch in her throat. She felt as if her heart had stopped.

"Oh. About time you made it back. Did you get the groceries?"

Kuchen's father sat before her on a black couch. He wore a white dress shirt, a pair of black pants from a suit and ebony dress shoes, laced perfectly. He crossed one leg over the other and played with the sharp kitchen knife in his gloved hands. The teenager began to shake. She fought back tears, holding one hand in the other.

_"Guten Morgen,_ my dear Schwanhild. Or should I say, 'Kuchen'?"

"M-Mr... Emil..." the girl whimpered.

"Why not call me Daddy like you used to? You think that just because you're all grown up now, you can call me by my real name?!" Emil growled, stabbing the knife through the leather of the couch.

His daughter wiped a runaway tear from her cheek with the sleeve of her hoodie. She listened to him speak, wanting to scream for Mo and Glitch who were probably asleep above her.

"Happy Birthday, my dear. Daddy's been missing you. Missing your whines and cries. He's been broken without you, and the house has to be cleaned by his hands. You know how daddy doesn't like to get his hands dirty." the German male spoke, fixing the white elastic gloves on his hands, then drawing the knife from the couch.

"You aren't my daddy... my daddy didn't hurt me like this. My daddy took me out for ice cream whenever I was sad, my daddy fed me! He never let me starve and deny my very existence!"

"That. Daddy. You once knew. Is. **DEAD!**" Emil shouted, making her flinch. He stood to his feet and clenched the knife in his hand, simmering with anger. "Now come home."

Kuchen shook her head at him and made a run for the tiny kitchen, nearly slipping on the tile floor because of her socks. Her father trailed behind her, the knife gripped tightly in his hand. Extending a free hand, Emil grabbed a hold of his daughter's ponytail, pulling her towards him, nearly snapping her neck from the sudden force.

"Who said you could run away from me?" he asked, watching her shiver and secretly beg for her life.

The strong, terrifying man gripped her neck, slamming her face into a nearby wall. He smirked evilly at the cracking noise that came afterwards. Emil grabbed her ponytail and pulled her face away from the wall. A thick trail of blood fell from Kuchen's small nostrils, her face was nearly the same color as the blood and fresh tears fell down her face, following the blood to the tile floor.

"You look so pretty in pain, my darling." Emil complimented, pressing her body against the wall and tugging her head back by the dark hair she bore, he placed the knife to her throat.

Kuchen breathed heavily, refusing to let him hear her sob and beg for mercy. She gasped, feeling her father press up against her back.

"I hope you remember your 14th birthday," Emil laughed, rubbing Kuchen's waist with his free hand. "It's time for a reminder of just how powerful your daddy is."

* * *

Mo sat his phone down on the table after calling Kuchen for the 10th time today, and watched as Lil' T talked to a magician. She had her hands on her hips and was prepared to call her big sister for approval. She rolled her neck up at him and gave off snaps between her words. Shifting from one hip to the other, she spoke sternly, sometimes laughing at some of the things the man said.

"I like you! You cool dude. Ey, Taye! I think we've got our magician!" the short African-American yelled, pointing to the tall man in the suit and top hat.

The older B-boy then looked at Angel who held a ladder that Miss Aubrey was standing on. She reached up high and nailed the other half of the banner to the wall, making it more clear and easier to read.

"Just perfect. Like me. Almost like me." the red-head smirked, climbing down to the floor.

Glitch grabbed a seat next to Mo at the set table and looked at him, worried about the upset look he had on his face.

"Uh... you a'ight?"

"Hmm? Yeah, man. I'm good." the elder lied.

"So, did Kuchen pick up?"

"Nah... I'm sure she's fine though." the chocolate man changed the subject, uncomfortable with the one at hand. "It's nice of them to hire a magician. I always knew K was so interested in stuff like that."

"Man, that magician better be good! If he ain't, we might have to kick somebody out the party." the prodigy said, looking over at the magician from across the room.

"Chill, lil' man. I think he know what he doin'. Yo, you got a quarter?"

Glitch slipped his fingers into the pockets on his pants and felt around until his finger brushed against metal. He pulled the quarter out of his pocket and looked at the date below the head.

"2009. Here."

Mo took the quarter for him then laid it flat in his hand. He made sure to give the Korean a good look at it before clapping suddenly. Glitch jumped a bit, surprised by the noise. Mo opened his hands and held them up openly. The quarter was gone.

"How'd you do that?!" the younger b-boy exclaimed, eyes glowing with amazement.

"I know a little magic." the older b-boy smirked, reaching behind Glitch's ear and pulling the quarter from it.

"Dude..." Glitch gasped, staring at the American currency Mo held between his fingers. "You don't only know magic,-"

"I am magic." the King of Flash interrupted, smiling at his amazed friend.

* * *

Kuchen crashed to the floor, arms draped over her nude and bleeding body. She cried silently, still feeling the salt that was rubbed into the multiple cuts on her body burn her flesh. She laid on her side and curled up on the cold tile floor. The only thing she saw before her was Mo and Glitch's faces. Even though they were illusions, her body became calm for a split second.

She heard a zipper become re-done and listened to the footsteps on the floor get louder and louder. A foot was placed on her arm and she was forced onto her back, letting out a heart-breaking sob.

"M-mommy..." Kuchen whispered to no one in particular.

"Mommy's gone. Long gone. It's all your fault, my dear." Emil spoke above her, smirking devilishly.

The shaking German girl looked up at her blood-covered hoodie on the floor that she had on before. Her heart began to race and her body became numb from blood loss. The green-eyed male picked up the kitchen knife that he came bearing with, clutching it in his blood and salt covered gloved hands. He knelt down to his daughter and looked into her pleading and horrified eyes.

"Yes, my love..." He flipped the knife in his hand so that the blade was pointing downward towards the floor. "Your mother's cancer was all your fault."

Kuchen gave him a surprised look, remembering how she learned about cancer from a documentary one day on TV. Before she could get a chance to speak, Emil raised the knife high and plunged it to his daughter's face.

The world went pitch black as air ceased it's way up her throat.

* * *

During the funeral, no one spoke or cried. They promised each other not to. Angel told them she wouldn't want them crying for her and they all agreed. Mo's apartment became colder than usual and he and Glitch barely exchanged words for a while. Dance practice was cancelled often and the elder often found himself waking up in the middle of the night and checking the couch for the German's presence, hoping that he was just dreaming.

Glitch, on the other hand, realized just how cool it was to have someone to play with whenever Mo had left the apartment to go somewhere. He was lonely and for once, music didn't sooth the pain he'd felt in his chest.

In the month of February, Hi-Def found themselves at the cemetery, standing in the cold weather and staring down at the gray tombstone on the ground. They wore what they wore the day they found her in the parking lot, chowing down on raw meat to calm her hunger. The date was the exact same as well. It had been exactly a year and they felt that they'd already failed her.

"Hey... Mo?" the Korean forced out, playing with the bundle of red flowers in his hand.

"Yeah, Glitch?" the chocolate man replied, refusing to take his eyes off of the tombstone.

"You... you remember how you said... that you were magic?"

"I remember." Mo told him, thinking back to the quarter trick he'd showed him.

Silence sat between the two before the prodigy spoke again.

"Make her come back..." Glitch whimpered out, attempting to hold back tears that fell down his face anyway.

The older B-boy looked down at his younger half, watching him look back up at him, his face becoming red as he bit his lip. Mo pulled the Korean into his arms, listening to him give off muffled sobs of guilt and desire into his bright blue hoodie. Glitch wrapped his arms around his brother and clutched the flowers tightly in his hand.

"I would if I could." Mo told him, rubbing his back to relax him. "It'll be alright, lil' man... put the flowers down for her. I'm sure she'll love 'em."

The Korean pulled his face from Mo's body and wiped his tears with the back of his hand. He flinched as they froze in the wind. He straightened up and stepped forward, then knelt down onto the pale grass. He reached out and placed the flowers below the tombstone, reading the name carved across the top. His big brother joined him, kneeling down as well.

The chocolate guardian said a quiet prayer then leaned forward. Glitch watched, wondering what he was doing. He placed a kiss upon the stone, whispering a small 'thank you' from his thick, quivering lips.


End file.
